1 Realities collide
by selfless1978
Summary: In one night my life had changed forever. This is my unbelievable tale. Please review! My twist on the 2014 Turtles.
1. Chapter 1

Hello, my name is Vicky. Yes that is my real name, if you read my stories then you noticed that my OC is named after me. Really not a coincidence there, I really love my Turtles, and since I can't make them real I figured that my kids and I could meet them in another way. Yes, the kids in my stories are based after mine and their names have been changed. Hey, I'm a Turtle fan...not an idiot. A little weird maybe, but not an idiot. Did I mention I got my kiddo's hooked on my favorite lean, mean, green fighting machines? Yup, I sure did. Drives their Grandma nuts too. (evil grin)

I grew up on the '80s version and I did love all three original Turtle movies (yes even the time travel one...so shoot me) and my mom thought it was one of the more stupider things she has seen. I used to drive her crazy, bouncing around the house singing the theme song. I still know that original song by heart and sing it every once in awhile to run her off if she won't go home. Works every time.

I also loved the '03 series, but I didn't get to watch it when it first came out. I was too busy for cartoons, even my beloved Turtles, at that point in my life. I never did really forget my passion for them, that is the only thing I still held onto from my childhood and I refuse to let it go. So I watched the '03 series a few years later when my life slowed down a bit. I had gotten married and my son (Dennis in the stories) had already blessed me with his presence and my daughter (Amy) was on her way when the TMNT movie came out in '07. I was thrilled, I finally had a new turtle adventure to watch, and I loved it. Still hadn't managed to watch the '03 series yet though. My 2 kiddos kept me on my toes to much. Finally I had gotten around to watching them though and I was very much impressed with it. It had a more darker tone to it but the message of family came through to me very strong, since I also consider mine to be my biggest strength. I could really connect with a lot of the things they went through in that series, especially Leo. I, too, felt like a failure to my family...but for different reasons. By the time I finally got around to watching the series my husband and I had split and the kids took it very hard. I felt like a failure of a mom because I couldn't keep my family together. I sank into a depression and I turned to something that had always made me happy as a child, my Turtles.

I spent hours watching the episodes after my kids were in bed for the night, in order. Something about season 4 and Leo's struggles brought to mind my own predicament. Finally the episode where Leo searched for the Ancient One really hit home, "I did the best I could." "Then why do you blame yourself." Now I'm not saying that the series cured my depression but it made me think enough about it to seek help. One more reason to love my Turtles...as if I needed one. Around this time is when my favorite turtle went from Mikey to Leo. I loved Mikey as a kid but as an adult I could relate more to Leo.

Next came the '12 series and this time my kids were old enough now to enjoy it with me. We spent many afternoons watching it. I loved the new fun loving goofball teenage aspect of it. It was kind of a mix between the '80 and '03 series, the goofiness of the '80s but some serious '03 tones to it as well and my kids loved it. We laughed together and I watched as a love for the silly green goofs grew in my children. Needles to say I now know all the theme songs by heart, though the '12 one gets me tongue tied if I don't pay attention. I really love the whole Donnie/April crush thing, but I still kinda feel bad for the smart guy.

Then finally came the new movie and I was so excited. I was literally like a little kid again and my kids were joining me in that excitement. This was something my kids and I could actually enjoy together. Usually I have to sit through stuff I really don't want to watch but not this time, for once they wanted to go see something I wanted to go see as well. Like a typical good turtle fan I was trying to keep my expectations low so I wouldn't be heartbroken if it didn't turn out good. I had read every review I could get my hands on and most of them said, in short, "It's crap and the Turtles look ugly." But I never listen to anyone's opinion, I like to form my own, so I took the kids anyway. We had a blast. I loved it, my kids loved it and we went to go see it again a few days later. I actually like the new look of them, it took a bit of getting used to but I really did like it. I thought Leo turned out really well.

Needles to say Turtlemania erupted in my small little mobile home I live in out in the country. (Yes I live in a house with wheels, get over it.) This was the time I started writing fanfiction for TMNT, listening to the movie score for inspiration. And when I wasn't doing that I was playing Turtle clips on the computer for my kids, movies, songs, episodes you name it I played it. Didn't see much of my mom during that phase, heh heh. She still don't really care too much for them even after all these years. My love for them however only grew and the internet made it possible for me to keep enjoying them.

And that's what I was doing late one night when a really bad thunderstorm rolled in. Where I live we get some nasty ones, only stands to reason since I live in tornado alley. So I was up waiting to see if I needed to duck and cover with the kids or not. While I was waiting for the light show to begin I played my favorite clip to the new movie that someone had so nicely put online for me, and everyone else, to watch. I know this may sound strange but I really loved the "Let's play buck buck" scene. Something about them using a childhood game to smack the crap out of Shredder gave me goosebumps. Maybe it's the whole family aspect of it, I really don't know, but I love that scene. I figured that after watching it I would work some more on my fanfic stories, one of them I was dealing with I had severe writer's block. I'm not a good writer in the first place and I just couldn't get the chapter to flow the way I wanted. I never got that far though because right in the middle of watching the clip the storm had arrived and, go figure my luck, a lightning bolt hit near my house and the power went out. So there I was sitting in the dark, mad as Raph after one of Mikey's pranks.

I heard a crack, pop sizzle sound coming from my computer and I was actually kind of worried that the bolt had maybe fried it until I remembered I had it plugged into a surge protector, to be on the safe side I bent under the desk and unplugged it anyway and promptly smacked my head on the desk on the way back up. That wasn't one of my better moments. I was now sitting pissed off in the dark, I was so intent on watching the clip that my stupid ass didn't even think to get a flashlight ready. I knew how bad these storms could get, you would think I would have learned by now...noooooo.

Sighing, I stood up to go wander to the hallway closet to grab one. I had been living here a while and I could find my way around my small home with ease in the dark, that is if the kids had all their toys picked up. Lucky for me I had made them clean up their mess earlier or I would be tripping all over toys. I began to make my way to the closet and I didn't get very far when I ran into something. For a moment I thought maybe I had miscalculated and smashed face first into a wall but that couldn't have been right, my path to the closet was wall free at that spot in the house. I was trying to figure it out when I felt it move away from me. Now I was really confused, even a little scared, until the lights came on a second later. There standing in front of me, looking at me in as much shock as I was looking at them, were four large figures. Not just any figures but the big green guys themselves. Somehow I was standing there looking at the movie version of Leo, Raph, Donnie and Mikey. Needless to say I was more than a little shellshocked. Well now wasn't this great...

They were looking at me as dumbstruck as I was looking at them. I bet that would have made a great picture, all of us standing there with our mouths hanging open. I for one didn't know to be scared that I was going nuts or excited because they were actually there. If I had been a robot the phrase "does not compute" would have made perfect sense at that moment. Reacting the only way my blown mind could work, I reached out and poked Leo. Yup, he was real, swords and all. I let my gaze wander to the other three, debating if I should poke them too. Raph's scowl on his face quickly let that thought flee my mind. Nope, wasn't going to poke him, I valued my finger to much.

Finally getting my befuddled brain under control. I finally got the guts to speak. "Hi...um...welcome to my home." Why was I so nervous? These were my favorite fictional figures after all, they wouldn't hurt me. Maybe it was the shock.

Leo looked at me, damn his eyes were even prettier in real life, with a calm amazement. "I would say thank you but we had no intention of coming here in the first place." From behind him Mikey gave me a small wave. Raph just glared at me and Donnie was looking around. Leo took a deep breath and asked me "Did you bring us here?"

Who the heck did he think I was? Some kind of alien genius? Heck I barely mastered math in school, not to mention chemistry and physics. I had to laugh at the absurdity of it. That didn't help Raph's temper i figured out as I heard a low growl coming from him. Better do something about that right now. "No, I didn't bring you here. I wouldn't even know how to bring you here. And Raph don't you dare throw a fit. If you wake my kids up I'll throw one that makes yours look like a toddler temper tantrum." I returned his glare.

He blinked at me in surprise, I guess no one talked to him like that before. "How did you know my name?" I think I stunned the anger out of him because he was actually nice now. Or stupefied, wasn't really sure at that point.

"I know all of you." I pointed out to the others as I called their names out. "Leo. Donnie. Mikey and you're Raph." Now I had them all looking at me like I was a space alien or something.

"Dudes, she can read minds..." Go figure Mikey would say something like that.

"I'm afraid you have us at a disadvantage, miss." Leo calmly told me. Those eyes of his...they gave me goosebumps and a shiver ran down my spine. I still couldn't believe he was really here.

"My name is Vicky. I think I should show you how I know you. Not sure if you will believe me otherwise." I turned back to my computer, really hoping that it wasn't fried. In shock I just now realized that the storm had moved on, I was so caught up with what just happened I didn't even notice. Good thing no twister made it's way toward me that night. I reached under my desk and plugged my PC back in, once again smacking my head on the desk, and fired it up. Grumbling as I rubbed my head I sat in my desk chair and waited for it to load as they gathered around me. I felt so small with them towering over me like that.

Finally the stupid thing was ready, have I mentioned I really hate computers?, and I pulled up my collection of Turtle stuff. I loaded the video I was watching when the lightning bolt hit. Stunned they stared at the screen.

"What the hell? That's our fight with the Shredder from years ago!" Raph exploded. Wait, what? Years ago? This movie just friggin came out? Did I miss something?

"How did you get this?" Leo asked me. Well now this was going to be fun to explain. How do you tell four living beings that they are the figment of someone's imagination turned into a movie? Oh boy...

"Well guys, this is actually a movie. It just came out in theaters. Someone filmed it in the theater and posted it onto the internet. You're actually pretty famous." This stunned them all into silence. I could feel them looking at each other and the air was filled with 'what the fuck?' vibes.

"How famous?" Once again leave it to Mikey to ask something like that.

"Let me show you." I then pulled up every incarnation of them. I started with the '80s version and worked my way up until the movie version.

"You have got to be kidding me..." Raph whispered. "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Seriously? Did we travel back in time or something?"

Donnie chuckled a little bit. "What's the matter, Raph? Your teenage years embarrass you?"

Ok now I was really getting confused. "If you're not teenagers then how old are you?" I just had to ask. I just hope they wouldn't smack me or something.

"Actually we are close to forty." Leo told me.

"Forty!" Talk about looking like an idiot. "But you look exactly like in the movie!"

"Turtles by nature age slowly." Donnie informed me. Well that really blew my expectations out of the water. Jeez they were older than me and adding insult to injury they looked better than me for their age. Talk about a let down... I guess I should call them Adult Mutant Ninja Turtles...boy that just sounded stupid...

"This is all very interesting but it doesn't explain how we got here." Leo looked at me. "And I'd like to know how we came to be in your living room."

"I don't know." Hell I was as dumbfounded as him. "I was just watching that video when lightning hit and the power went out. I heard the computer make some weird noises so I unplugged it. Then I went to go find a flashlight and bumped into one of you. Then the lights came on." I wish I could have told them more but I didn't know what happened either.

Leo turned his attention to Donnie. "Don't look at me. I don't know either."

Well that's a first. This even had Donnie stumped. I actually kind of felt bad for them. That's probably why I made them the offer, that and I was actually thrilled to have them here. "You guys can stay here. It's not much but you're welcome to whatever I have."

Leo turned that blue eyed gaze to me, talking about butterflies in the stomach. Here I am a thirty five year old woman getting all fluttery over him looking at me. How old was I again? Fifteen? Ugh. "We don't want to be a bother or a burden."

"If I thought that were to be the case I wouldn't have made the offer. You need a place to stay until you can figure things out. I'm not going to just kick you out with nowhere to go." That and I felt responsible for what happened. Least I could do is make it up to them by letting them stay here.

Leo looked kept looking at me, man if he didn't quit I was going to melt into a puddle of silly goo, and then nodded his head. "All right. Then we accept. And thank you."

"Well that takes care of that issue. I'll go get some blankets and stuff and get you guys settled in. But I warn you, in the morning I have to get my kids up for school. They are going to be really excited to see you."

Leo smiled, seriously...dreamy. Oh come on, get a hold of yourself, Vicky. "I think we can handle them."

Now I have to figure out how to explain this to my family, my mom's major annoyance standing in my living room. I couldn't help but chuckle.


	2. Chapter 2

Needless to say the next morning was interesting, thank god they guys were already up. They watched us go about our morning routine with amusment. It started off like it usually does, me hitting the snooze button about six times before I drag myself out of bed. I am so not a morning person to this day I don't know how i managed three years in the army, having to be up early all the time. Shocked you again, didn't I? Yes I was in the army but it's not part of my story. I might go more into detail about that later. Anyway I did my usual half asleep shuffle to the kitchen only to be shocked into wakefullness as I remembered that I had house guests when I got to the living room. Thankfully they were already up so I didn't have to be quiet, because it was about to get very noisey. I mumbled a half asleep "Mornin" and got four replies. Was Raph laughing at me? Sure I looked like shit but come on...I just got up for crying out loud. Leo seemed to be too, there go those butter flies again... that half smile he does always did get me.

The good thing was I didn't have to make breakfast this morning. Mikey had already found his way into my kitchen. Wasn't to sure I wanted that though. Sure in all the fanfic stories i read he's a great cook but the tv shows tell me other wise. I've seen him turn fried eggs into scrambled and some of his pizza topping ideas...(shudders) I cautiously went over to see if I could help. By that I mean make sure he didn't accidently poisen my kids. I loved the guy but my faith in his cooking skills was next to none. As I stood next to him I must say I was pleasntly surprised, apparently the Turtle fandom knew Mikey better than the tv show producers did. He had made an amazing breakfast. Not really a breakfast eater myself I was surprised to fnd my mouth watering.

So now it was time to get my little rascals up, and this is where it gets noisy. I figured I better warn them, I really didn't want Raph to get startled and break something. Man he was huge... but I felt it fit him. "Guys, I do something to get them up every morning. It's going to get noisey in here for a little bit." Then I plopped my butt in my desk chair. Searching through my playlist I found the song I was looking for, turned the volume up and hit play. The living room exploded with the sound of the song written for the movie. Yes I know alrm clocks in their room would probably be easier on the ears but hey, this was a Turtle fandom household after all. I walked down the hallway with "Knock knock, you about to get shell shocked." blareing into my ears.

Amy, as usual, shot out of bed like a rocked and hauled her little behind to the bathroom, dancing and singing as she did her morning clean up. Dennis on the other hand takes after me, I had to literally drag him out of bed. Grumbling "I'm still tired!" he stomped his way to the bathroom as Amy was finishing up. Yup everything running as usual.

I laid out clothes for them to wear then went up front to see if Mikey needed help, making a detour to the computer to turn down the racket. It had done it's job, the kids were up. I couldn't help but notice them looking at me with amusment. "Sorry about that. They really love you guys and here in a little bit your going to find out just how much." I told them quietly.

I was setting the table for the kids when they finally made their appearance to the front of the house. Arguing about something, another usuall occurance in my home, they froze when they entered the living room. I could feel the guys getting a little nervous, I figured I'd help them past this akward moment. "Guys, meet Dennis and Amy."

"Mommy! The Ninja Turtles are here?" Amy's 'here' came out in a long high pitched squeal. Then she promptly went to go pester Donnie who wasn't quite sure what to expect. She says she don't have a favorite turtle but Donnie wears purple...one of her favorite colors. And she wasted no time telling him that, then she bombarded him with questions. Dennis was a bit slower, he's is the opposite in his sister in every way, as he slowly made his way to the largest turtle. Raph looked down at him then looked at me and I gave him a reassuring smile. A little bashful my son stood in front of Raph, looking at him quietly for a moment then said "I like red. It's my favorite color."

Raph looked down at him and smiled. "Mine too." Well so far so good. the initial shock seemed to be wearing off. After the kids had made their rounds telling each of them hi Mikey was finishing up breakfast and I called the kids to come eat. My little hungry monsters stormed my kitchen and seated themselves, they even remembered to tell Mikey thank you for cooking. Then I sat down at the table with them as they happily dug into their food and around mouthfulls of "awesome" and "cool", we had the conversation of "Do not tell anyone at school about this." I knew I could trust them, they may be young but they weren't stupid. They knew they had to be kept secret, everything they had ever watched about the turtles stressed that.

"You want something to eat?" Mikey asked me.

"Not right now thanks. I always let them eat first before I do, just to make sure they had enough." I could feel someone's blue eyes boring into the back of my head as I said that. Leo was watching me.

"I made more than enough." Mikey told me.

"I know bud, but old habits die hard. I'll eat later, I promise." After mumbling something along the lines of "You better." he turned back to the stove. I couldn't help a small chuckle. Finally my kids were done eating, evident by the enormous mess on my table, and we slowly made our way out the door to catch the bus. After the bus came to pick them up I stood there and waved at my daughter as it drove away, as I do every morning. I was about to turn to go back inside when one of those sneaky ninjas put his skills to use.

"They are wonderful kids." Leo spoke up from just slightly behind me. The shithead scared me so much i actually jumped a little and screamed. God...I never scream. I'm the big tough mommy, I wasn't supposed to get scared.

I turned around to glare at him. He gave me that half smile again. "Sorry, old habits die hard." Now the bastard was stealing my lines. But I couldn't help but laugh.

"It's ok. Just wasn't expecting you to be out here. though I guess there really isn't any reason for you to hide out here. The only ones who can see you are the neighboring cows and my dad's goats, and the rest of my family."

Leo looked around. "It's beautiful out here." He looked at another house not far away, with a bit of worry.

"It's all right Leo. That is where my folks and brother live. The only ones who are going to see you. No one else lives out here, you guys can move around at will. I'll show you the property boarders later and tell you where to stay away from. We have plenty of land out here, feel free to explore."

Leo looked back at me, again with that half smile. Was he trying to make me melt into butter? "But first you better come in and eat. You said you would eat later, well it's later."

"Alright, alright..." We walked into the kitchen and I cleaned up the disaster area the kids left on my table. Mikey promptly placed a plate down for me once it was clean. It did smell good and I was surprisingly hungry. I started to eat so my orange masked mother hen would quit standing over me with a cooking spoon. Then he fixed his brother's some plates. It was a bit cramped in my small kitchen but somehow we made due and got through breakfast. I hadn't had so much fun in a long time. There were jokes, stories and just generally good conversation. I don't make friends easy but in a way I had know them all my life. To me they were already more than friends.

We were cleaning up, still shooting shit, when my cellphone rang. I looked for it for a few moments, I'm awful at keeping track of the stupid thing it always seems to move around on it's own. When I finally found it and looked at the caller ID my good mood quickly disappeared, it was my ex-husband. I held my fingers over my lips to the guys as I answered. "What?" Can you tell we don't really get along anymore? The following convrsation will reveal why.

"I'm not going to be able to come see the kids this weekend."

"Again? What have I told you about promising them something and not going through with it! You told them you would come."

"Something came up."

"Let me guess you blew all your money again and don't have any left over." This had been one of the factors in our divorce and he still couldn't keep his funds straight.

"I had stuff I needed to pay for!"

"It's called a budget. Make one and stick to it. But I've been telling you that for nine years. I really don't give a rat's ass what you do with your money honestly, unless it affects the kids and I'm getting tired of you telling them you are going to come then back out because you blew all your funds. Your not the one who has to pick up the god damn pieces!" Yup just a typical conversation between us.

"I'm sorry!"

"Sorry don't mean shit when you keep doing the same damn thing over and over again. You haven't seen them in months. Frankly I'm getting sick of it."

"What ever. I gotta go." Then he hung up. Once again my phone went flying across the room, it always seems to do that after one of these conversations, might be the reason I can't find it half the time. This time it stopped it's flight as a green hand shot out and caught it before it smashed into something. Shit, I was so pissed I forgot they were there. "And here I though Raph had a temper." Leo told me as he placed my phone down on the desk, safely away from me since I was still in the kitchen.

Embarrassed I looked around. "Sorry guys, I forgot you were there. You weren't supposed to see that. It was my ex and he can get under my skin."

Leo looked at me a moment. "Let's go take that tour. I think the walk would do you good."

Before I could answer I heard someone coming up the front stairs. "Oh no..." I really wasn't ready for this yet.

"What?" Leo asked alarmed.

"My mom." And she just barged in like she normally does. I love my folks dearly but sometimes it's like 'Everybody loves Raymond'. When you want to be left alone they barge in. This time I think she was wishing she would have knocked. She stood there staring at my unexpected house guests.

"Morning, Mom. Meet the Turtles. Yes they are real and no I don't know how they got here."

"Oh my god." She said.

"You need me to call you an ambulance? Or you going to be alright."

It took her a moment but she got control of herself. "No, I'll be fine." She was quick on her toes, I'll give her that much. "Hi, I'm Carol. But you can just call me Granny." Yup I did a facepalm. She wants four large trained ninjas turtles to call her Granny. Oh this day was going great, what next, my pants falling down?

"Hi, I'm Mikey!"

"Leo."

"Donnie."

"Raph." They each shook hands with her. Now this I thought I'd never see, my mom shaking hands with the beings that annoyed her so much through out my childhood. I had to sit down, so I plopped down into a dining chair in the kitchen.

"You ok?" Mom asked me.

"I'm fine. Just been a rough night."

"I can tell. So how did the kids take it?"

"Do I really have to tell you? I'm surprised you didn't hear Amy at your house."

Donnie smiled. "She is a sweet little girl."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Until you piss her off. She makes Raph look like a baby."

"Hey! I'm not that bad." He protested

"Yes you are." Said the other three. I couldn't help but laugh, we all did. I was actually kind of glad this was going so well. I wasn't quite sure how to explain this to my mom. Dad and Jim, my brother, were easy going. She was the main hurdle. If I could keep her from flipping out we were good. We spent about an hour talking, her asking questions and us answering the best we could. All in all it was kind of pleasant, for once. She can get annoying at times but this wasn't one of them. Finally she said her goodbyes and turned to go back to her house. "Mom, It's really important that we keep this to ourselves." I told her as she was about to leave.

"I know. I may be old but I'm not stupid." I laughed as she walked out of the house.

"Well that went better then I expected." I told the guys. "Well come on. I'll walk you around the place. I know you guys don't want to be cooped up in here all the time."

Together we walked around the property line so they knew where to stay. It was a large area and it took us quite awhile. Fifteen hundred acres is a bit to cover on foot not to mention I pointed things out like "Don't go over there." "That forest is ok to go in to." "This is dad's goat pen, leave his goats alone or he'll smack you." type stuff. I knew they were naturally city dwellers and I wasn't sure how they would take to a country lifestyle but I was hoping they could make the best of it until we could find a way to get them home. That thought actually saddened me, I really didn't want them to go but I knew that eventually they would have to. I was determined to show them the best time I could until then.

"You know. It's really nice out here guys." Mikey said as he watched my dad's goats. Dad had their pen set up inbetween our houses and that's whrere we finished the tour. He had about ten or so at the moment and they were playing around in their pen. Mikey smiled as he watched their antics.

"Yeah it is." Now that shocked me, this came from the one who spends most of his day building tech stuff. I thought Donnie would be going through withdrawals by now. But he seemed happy.

"What do you have going on over there?" Leo asked me, pointing towards a large area my dad had cleared out. He had walked by my side through the whole walk around and was still standing next to me. I was still getting that jibbery fluttery feeling from being so close to him.

"My dad wants to build a barn here. As you might have noticed we don't have one yet. This land was all untouched when we got it about ten years ago. He keeps trying but he can never seem to get one built. Something always seems to come up, that and he want's to do it himself. You know, do it all by hand. He says it will mean more to him if he does it. I just think he hates the thought of some else building something for his family."

"I can understand that." Leo said quietly. I looked up at him and I could have sworn I saw sadness on his face. That got me to thinking about something I had almost forgotten about. Where was Master splinter? Suddenly I started to put it together. They hadn't mentioned him and their older age, compared to the tv shows. I had a bad feeling Splinter had maybe passed on. I figured I'd keep my mouth shut about it. If they wanted to tell me they would. And that thought led me down another thinking path, sometimes I think to much.

"You guys need some stuff to train with. Come with me." I led them to another area where Dad kept his 'junk'. He had a lot of stuff throw in that pile and he was starting to pull out his hair wondering what he was going to do with it all. I knew he wouldn't mind. "Here. Look through this and take whatever you may need to fix up a training area for you guys. When Dad gets home from work I'll bully him to open his magic toolbox and get you all set up."

With whoops of happiness Donnie and Mikey started to browse through the large pile. Then I turned to Raph. "I think I know where I can get my hands on some weights for you. Let me make a few calls later."

"That would be great." He smiled. Then he went to help his brothers.

I found myself standing alone with Leo watching as his brother's were picking apart the large pile. "You really don't have to go through all this trouble." He told me softly.

"Leo, it's not a problem. Really it isn't. I'm glad I can do something for you." I turned to look at him and he caught my eyes with his. "I know this is hard for you to understand, but you guys have been a part of my life since I was not much older than Dennis. I want to help you. I love you guys."

Oh boy...that intense blue gaze was really working a number on me. I was starting to wonder if my knees would hold up. Now that would be just dandy, falling over just because his eyes bore into mine. And there was that smile again... "I wish we knew you as well as you know us."

"Well we have time until we figure out a way to get you back home. You will get to know me better." I looked back at the others, laughing as I watched Mikey and Raph. Apparently the younger was pestering the older again because Raph tackled his brother to the ground. Leo just sighed and shook his head.

"And why such a great sigh?" I asked him.

"You would think they would out grow that."

I laughed. "Aw come on, Leo. You have no idea how many times watching these types of scenes had made my day better. They wouldn't be them if they didn't act out."

"Try living with them." He told me, I smiled at the sarcasm in his voice.

"Trust me, I do. My little angels remind me a lot of those two. You will see in time." That's all I was going to tell him. I had my own little Raph/Mikey conflicts in my children.

By now Raph had Mikey calling uncle. I smiled again as I looked on. "You know, I'm really glad you guys showed up."

"And why is that?"

"It's like a dream come true for me. I've always wished you were real, I never expected that you were. And I must say I'm not the slightest bit disappointed. I remember when I was little Mikey was my favorite, he always made me laugh when I was feeling down and I was down a lot as a kid. I went through some tough times. You guys I could always count on to bring a smile on my face, if even only for a little while."

"Well then, I'm glad we could have helped you. I just wish we could have known that we were." He grew quiet again as we watched. Donnie had found something of interest and was trying to pull it free. Without warning it came loose all at once and he lost his balance, promptly falling over Mikey who had come up behind him to help. "So, who is your favorite now?"

"I'm standing next to him." Stupid me...I really didn't mean to blurt that out like that. I could feel my cheeks starting to blush as I felt his eyes on me again. Why did I do that? Shit I could have just said 'All of you.' But noooo...big mouth strikes again. For some reason being near him made my brain fall asleep. And he was still watching me! Say something already jeez! I'm dying from embarrassment here...

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you. But I am honored." I could feel him move closer and he put his hand on my shoulder, turning me to face him. "One day I would like to know why but not now. I think I've embarrassed you enough." Oh goodness he was so close. I had a whole bunch of body part malfunctions, weak knees, jittery stomache, head felt all woozy. Snap out of it, Vic. Your not a puppy love struck teenager any more. Lord his eyes were so pretty...

I was saved, by the arrival of my dad and brother. I took the chance to break away from Leo so I could introduce everyone, but I couldn't quite ignore that twinge of disappointment. What the hell was wrong with me? My dad and brother were tickled pink to meet the guys and we spent the rest of the time outside under the sun setting up a training area for them. Until I noticed that it was time for the bus to start showing up soon. I had to keep the guys away from the drive way until it left again. As I stood out front waiting I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to be held in Leo's arms. I quickly dropped that line of thinking. I really didn't want to go there, just for the simple reason that they would go home, somehow. All we could be were friends, nothing else would be able to develop.


	3. Chapter 3

The next few days flew by. The guys had grown into a routine but I think they adjusted it so they could see the kids in the morning before they got onto the bus. They don't start training until after Dennis and Amy are off to school. That left me with the free time I needed to work, since I work from home that was a blessing. Once the kids come home we do the usual homework shuffle. I aparently got ditched as the favorite homework helper, Donnie filled that roll now and I'm ashamed to admit it he is a lot better at it than I am.

Mikey and I then work on supper. I enjoy his company in the kitchen and I have yet to hear any cmplaints from my kids on anything he has a hand in making. I wonder if I could clone him before he leaves. Sometimes getting the kids to eat something is like trying to tell Shredder to be nice, it ain't happening. Some how Mikey has that magic touch though, if he makes it they will eat it.

Getting them ready for bed is still the same challenge, maybe even worse now, they don't want to miss a minute of the turtles. Leo and Raph usually bribe them with bedtime stories to get them to bed. I still think that's kind of cute, the two brothers that butt heads the most working together to defeat the 'I don't want to go to bed!' monster. Sure my house was cramped but god it was so good to have them here.

Donnie had still been trying to figure out what had brought them here, but the poor guy still wasn't having any luck. I'm guessing my limited technology doesn't help him much in that aspect. Compared to what he has back home, my place must feel like the stonage to him. I still felt bad about them being stuck here. I know it was just a freak accident but still, I just felt like it was my fault somehow. Why would they end up in my house if it wasn't? I know, I know I'm being to hard on myself, I can't help it. It's the way I am.

By now it was Friday night. We spent the evening outside gathered around a fire pit, sitting in lawn chairs and of course roasting marshmellows, or smashshmellows and my kids call them, and making smores. Mon, Dad and Jim were out there with us enjoying the late summer evening. As the sky grew darker the fireflies started to come out and of course the kids had to go catch some. It was a wonderful night, cool, no breeze and not a cloud in the sky. The moon was full, and it's light filled the air with it's luminous glow. Now if the stupid goats would shut up and go to sleep...I suppose the kid's laughter didn't help the mood either. They had dragged Mikey into catching fireflies with them, and Jim. The rest of us were just gathered around the fire pit talking.

Finally I heard the tell tale arguing of tired children. "Time to go in and get cleaned up guys!" I called to them and got the usual "I don't wanna!". The evil eye got them running towards the house though, to the chuckle of all gathered. After bath time I got them snuggled in bed and the story readers came in to take over. Tonight it was Donnie and Mikey, by request. Finally they were settled down and sleeping and I went back outside to enjoy the night. It was just to pretty.

By now my family had already went home, Raph and Mikey were watching tv and Donnie was doing something with my computer. I had no idea where Leo was. Probably floating around somewhere practicing his ninja skills on those pesky coyotes, they were a pain in my dad's goat loving ass. By now the fire was out, either it had burned down or someone put it out. I didn't mind, I could still look at the moon. I walked away from the house to a little hill about 200 feet away. It's the perfect spot to stargaze I think. I go there often on pretty nights like this, just to watch the stars, or moon in this case. I love nature so I really don't mind being out and alone like that. Hey, I told you before, I'm weird. Standing there I watched the night sky, enjoying the peaceful night.

"Why are you out here all alone?" I jumped, sneaky ass ninjas! I could never get used to that. Leo came up beside me. "Sorry." Yeah right, suuure he was. That's why he had this big shit eating grin on his face.

"No, your not." I gave him my 'I'm mad at you but not really mad at you' look. Don't ask me, I don't know what it looks like either. That's how I felt though. "I just like being outside on nights like this."

"It is a wonderful night." He looked up at the moon. "I don't think I remember the last time I've seen such a nice night like this. So quiet and calm."

"Well you live in a busy city, I expect quiet doesn't happen often." Well duh. Smart observation there again. I mentally kicked myself, why do I always say stupid crap around him.

"No, it doesn't." He sighed. He was then quiet for a few moments. "I really enjoyed tonight. Thank you."

"Your welcome. We try to do this every once in a while. It's not often we get together like that, even though we live so close together."

Again he got quiet. "You love them very much, don't you?"

"Yeah, they can be an annoying bunch but I wouldn't trade them for anything. I've learned over the years that they are pretty much the only ones I can really depend on. I just wish I could do more for my kids."

He lowered his gaze from the moon to look at me. "You do great with them, they are very happy children. You do a good job."

"I don't think so." I replied very quietly still looking at that round ball of soft light. I could still feel him looking at me and I got those now familiar jitter bugs inside me. Was it sad that I was getting used to them?

"Why are you so hard on yourself?" He finally asked me. He didn't even try to sugar coat it, right to the point with this one.

I thought a bit on how to answer. Wasn't sure how to put it into words. "I don't know. I just feel like I could have done better. They have been through so much." I felt the tears starting to form, making the picture perfect moon fuzzy. "I feel like I failed them somehow." Great, now I was crying in front of him and he knew it too. My big tough, nothing bothers me attitude crumbling around me. I never let anyone see me like this anymore, the last one I let in like that tore my heart out of my chest and stomped on it.

He moved closer to me and stood in front of me, then I felt his arms a round me pulling me close to him. I lost it, something about him made me open up and let all of my pain and frustration out. Feelings I didn't even know I was trying to bury came to the surface. I collapsed against him and cried. He just held me close to him until I got myself under control again.

"Your not a failure, far from it. You are doing a wonderful job. All you can do is the best you can, don't beat yourself up for what you can't give them. They are happy with what they have." I listened to him as I was still wrapped in his arms, already starting to feel better. I guess I've been keeping that bottled up for so long that I didn't even notice it was bothering me but deep down those feelings of not being able to do enough had eaten a hole in me. I didn't notice it until now. How was it that he had seen right through what I had been hiding from myself? Damn, he's better than any pshychologist. "Now, why don't you tell me why you feel like a failure."

"Why on earth would you want to know that?" I still had my head on his chest and his arms were still around me. I did have to admit it felt nice.

"So I can take all your reasons and tear them to little shreds."

"Your going to insist aren't you."

"Yes, I think I am."

I sighed as I pulled away from him. If he only knew the can of worms he was trying to open. I sat on the grass and once again looked up at the moon, it's glow once again filling me with peace. "You might as well sit down, Leo. This story goes back farther than you think it does." He sat down next to me on the grass, close but far enough to give me space to think. I pulled my knees up to my chest, trying to find the words to explain to him a lifetime of issues that lead me to feel failure. The main problem of this whole thing was, could I bring myself to tell him? Could I bring down the walls I had built around myself? After my ex and I split I vowed never to let anyone else know me that intimatley again, never let anyone know about my failures in life, mainly because the one I had let in became part of the my problem now. Sure I knew Leo was a good guy, but honestly what did I know except from what I've seen on tv? And how much of that was the real Leo? I wanted to talk, to get this all off of my chest, but I kept running headfirst into the wall I had built myself around me.

He was watching me, I could always feel it when he did, quietly reading me like an open book. I guess he figured I was having problems opening up because he started talking first. "You know to much about us not to know about Master Splinter." I nodded, I just never brought it up. I think he knew that already though. "We lost him years ago." Leo looked up at the moon again himself. "That was the hardest thing we have ever faced. It almost tore us apart. I could feel us slipping further away from each other and nothing I did seemed to help." I looked over at him in shock. There was so much I didn't know about them after all. "My family was growing apart when we needed each other the most. We knew it would happen one day that he would leave us but when it finally happened, he just didn't wake up one morning, none of us were really prepared for it and none of us knew how to deal with it." He looked at me again. "I struggled trying to keep us together but I had failed. Raph went out on his own, Mikey just shut down and Donnie never came out of his lab anymore. I was so overcome with grief, for my father and for the fact I couldn't keep us together, that I made a huge mistake while out one night looking for Raph. I got careless and I got caught. In my mind I had failed once again but with that failure something else had happened. I had been held for about three days in a research lab. I'm not going to go into detail about what kind of lab." I shuddered, he didn't have to. I know what the human species was capable of. "You have no idea how happy I was to see a very angry Raph barge into the room, Donnie and Mikey right behind him. That last mistake I thought I had made brought us back together, made us all realize that even though our father was gone, we still had each other. Sometimes your failures work out for the better, then that means it's not a failure after all. Even if the road that gets you there is hard to understand that, it's a path well taken to learn about yourself."

I thought about that, resting my head on my knees. I understood what he was trying to tell me but my problems were a bit different. Well he wouldn't full understand if I didn't tell him but I wasn't sure if he would understand. I sighed, well there was only one way to find out. I looked up again at the sky gathering my strength to tell my tale. It started when I was about Amy's age, 6-7. Around that time I was being molested by someone who was a good family friend, this went on for about a year and I never told anyone. How could I? Even at that age it was hard to talk about. The only reason it came out was because we had moved away to another state and he had went after a childhood friend of mine. She wasn't going to have any of it though and she fought back and was rewarded for her courage with a hammer to the head. My failure to speak up when I should have had cost my friend her life and I spent years dealing with that. Hell even today I still feel that pang of guilt. He was eventually put into the slammer after a long trial. A trial where I had to testify, even as young and scared as I was I did it for my friend. I failed her before, I wasn't going to fail her again, I did it for her.

I did what I could to lead a normal life after that. The only really big difference was I stayed away from the boys. I just couldn't bring myself to trust them. I never had a boyfriend by the time I left home at 18, joining the army. Then it got harder to avoid the guys, I had to work with a majority of male soldiers. In a way this was good, it helped me come out of my shell. I had always been the shy quiet kid growing up, my time in the service changed that. I learned how to communicate and work with others. That didn't mean I had experience though, I was very clueless about a lot of things. Naive, if you will. My new found confidence was shattered when I had entered a relationship, my first one, and was dropped like a hot potato right after our first, and only, time of having sex. I found out later he only wanted to be with me to win a bet. I had a reputation of being hard to get close to and some guys put a bet out to see if one could 'get me in the sack'. My dumbass fell for it. I had failed to see him for what he really was and I spent months glueing my heart back together.

When I had finally picked up the pieces of that episode, another man entered my life. This time it seemed to work out better and we dated for almost a year. I fell for him hard and I was so happy, right until the day I found out he was married and had been sleeping around with other girls. Once again I went looking for the super glue, once again I had failed to see what was really going on. At this point now I just cut back completely from men, I didn't want to go through this anymore.

I finished my time in the service and took on a civilian job. It was here that I met David and this time it seemed I hit the jackpot. He was everything I had ever wanted. Loving, kind, stable, he made me fell alive. The relationship progressed, I met his family he met mine, got engaged and finally married. I was on top of the world, or so I thought. When I found out I was expecting Dennis that was when I was on top of the world. Everything was going so well, we were happy. Dennis came into our would like a comet that needed lots of bottles and diapers but we didn't mind the chaos. Amy was on the way shortly after Dennis turned six months old and the thrill of a new baby filled the family once more. Things were going great, until I got laid off. This cut our income in half but we managed. We couldn't do a lot of the stuff we used to do, or buy stuff that we took for granted before, but we had food on the table and a roof over our head and each other. I kept looking for a job, not really easy to do in this small town, and finally found one. It didn't pay as much but we were still ok. By the time Amy turned 2 things however began to change. David would disappear for hours on end and come home with a lot of crap we didn't need, mainly stuff for himself. I can understand wanting to splurge on yourself every once in a while but it started to get to the point where the money was gone almost as soon as it came in and I had no idea where it went. Not from lack of trying to figure it out either. I would spend hours going over our monthly budget only to discover that half the time I went grocery shopping the money wasn't there that was alotted for it. We began to argue a lot more, my main concern was getting the bills paid and food on the table, his had shifted somehow to his wants before the family.

I tried so hard to get him to come back around. By this point our utilities kept getting shut off and I had to do payday loans to get them turned back on, another burden, if you have ever done one you can understand. To make matters even worse I got laid off again so that put another dent in our income but still he went out and splurged on movies, video games, guns, car upgrades you name it he bought it. I can't tell you how many times I just took the stuff back just so we could have money for food and every time I did resulted into a huge argument. I know it was hard, hell there were so many things I wanted to buy for myself but I couldn't. I just sucked it up and took care of my children as best I could as I watched their father distance himself more and more from us. I begged him, pleaded with him, tried to explain to him over and over again that this wasn't working and something needed to change. A few weeks later it did change, but not in the way I had ever wanted. He left one day and never came back. Took the car and all the money we had left with him. There I was with 2 small children, no job, no money and no car. Once again, I had failed. This time I didn't fail myself, I failed my children and that was the hardest thing I ever had to face. They were heartbroken and there was nothing I could do to fix this.

He eventually filed for divorce and I, with the help of my family, got back onto my feet again. I found a job where I could work from home so that saved me from having to deal with the whole childcare issue and was able to keep the lights on and food on the table. It doesn't bring in as much as I was used to but it was enough. But I still had to stare that failure in the face every time the kids asked for daddy. He never comes to see them, he gets every other weekend and holiday with them but he never comes to pick them up. How do you explain this to your kids when they ask you why? This was my ultimate failure, I let children be brought into this world from a father that don't give a rats ass about them, and this is what eats at me all the time. You would think that after everything I had been through I would have seen something, somewhere that all wasn't it what appeared to be. That was when I built those walls. I told myself never, ever would I let someone get close to me like that again. I have had enough for one lifetime.

By the time I was done talking my face was wet with tears. Leo however sat next to me and listened quietly to every word and his face was lost in thought. "You have had it rough, haven't you..."

I smiled a small sad smile. "That's not even including all the bullies I had to deal with in school. I was the poor shy kid that always got picked on. I guess that's why I just chose to stay away from folks. I don't trust anyone anymore. It seems to me like there is no good in the world anymore so I distance myself from the world."

"But yet you let us in your life." He looked at me.

I shrugged. "I grew up watching you guys. Like I said before I could always depend on you to cheer me up. I could always forget about my problems, for a little whiles anyway. That didn't change as I got older. I always held onto the one thing that I really enjoyed as a child and brought it into adulthood with me. I would spend hours sometimes loosing myself in your adventures after I put the kids to sleep for the night. I feel comfortable with you four." I looked at him. "You have done so much for me you don't even realize. Especially you, Leo."

"Me? And why is that?"

"Because I felt the struggles you face trying to lead your brothers echoed my own struggles to raise my children. I connected with that. I wished so many times to find someone like you."

His blue eyes met my brown ones, sending the now familiar chill up my spine. "Maybe you have." He whispered. Before I knew what was happening he leaned in and kissed me. After the shock wore off I felt myself returning that kiss. Was this really happening? Was I really sitting here lip locked with a Ninja Turtle? One who I had been secretly crushing on for years? Somebody pinch me...I had to be dreaming.

After a few moments I pulled away from him and turned my head to the side. My feelings were having a hard time trying to make their way around that wall I had put up. "I'm sorry..." I choked out once I realized I might have hurt him by doing so. Damn I was an emotional mess. He reached out his hand and turned my face back toward his.

"It's ok. I fully understand. There is nothing to be sorry about." He stood up and offered me his hand to help me up and I took it. "Come on, let's go back inside. It's getting chilly out here and I can tell your cold." Huh, my cold lips must have given it away... Still holding hands we walked back towards the house. He pulled me to a stop before we went inside and turned me to face him. "You know, I wish you could see yourself as others see you. You are not a failure. You are a strong person and you did everything you could to make it right. It's not your fault." He leaned down and kissed me on the cheek. "I have a lot of respect for you, even more now from listing to you earlier. What happened to your friend and your marriage was not your fault, you can't control other people. The rest were mistakes. It's time you respected yourself. Now go get some rest." He opened the door for me and followed me inside, leaving the now chilly night behind.


	4. Chapter 4

That night I had trouble sleeping, well can you blame me? I just told my, to me, disturbing past to my now not so secret crush and he kissed me, of course I couldn't sleep. I had more emotions and thoughts swimming in my head than sharks in a feeding frenzy. Finally after a couple hours I gave up and got out of bed. Putting a robe on, I snuck quietly up front, trying not to wake the now sleeping ninjas scattered all over my living room and went to the kitchen. I poured myself a glass of water and snuck my way back to my room. I thought I did pretty good not waking them up. Hey, you try sneaking around the sneak kings, not as easy as you think.

I walked to my bedroom window and, taking a sip of water, I looked out over the moon drenched fields. I put the glass down on my bookshelf then threw the robe onto my dresser.. My life had just gotten a bit complicated but surprisingly I wasn't upset about that. What bothered me was the fact that this wouldn't be able to last, they would find a way home and I'd have to let him go. Were we even doing the right thing between us right now? And what about our families? What would they think? I sighed as I watched the night. What was I going to do...

"Didn't I tell you to get some rest?" Seriously? How the hell did he get past my squeaky door!? At least I didn't jump this time. His arms wrapped around me from behind and he snuggled up close to me. I could feel his smooth plastron on my back, he didn't have any of his gear on. It actually felt nice having him near like that.

"I couldn't sleep."

"And why not?" Right to the point again. I think that's what I like about him so much, always to the point. Cuts away the annoying chatter. Well two can play that game.

"Leo, what are we getting into? I mean, what will happen between us when you go back?" I couldn't help the tears in my eyes, but I felt it needed to be said before this went any further. I kept my gaze firmly outside though, I didn't want him to see me cry...again.

"Honestly, I don't know. But that doesn't change the fact that I care for you." He grew quiet himself and together we looked out the window for awhile, his arms around me and me leaning on his chest. I was painfully aware that I was wearing a short, silk, nightdress. Blue of course, it was one of my favorite colors...for obvious reasons. He didn't seen to mind that I was standing there in the skimpy thing though. Any other man would be all over that, not him. It was as if he knew I wasn't ready and just kept his hands locked in that hug around my waist. And that's all he did, he just held me. My respect for him grew once more.

I found I was having that inner struggle with myself. I was trying so hard to take a sledge hammer to that god damn wall I had built. I wanted so bad to let him in, the one person I knew would not intentionally hurt me and I couldn't let him in. At least we both knew he wouldn't be able to stay. That was a given from the get go. To put it bluntly he didn't belong in my world and I fully understood that. But did I really want him to leave before I could show him exactly how much I cared for him? How much time did we have? Days, weeks, months? Could I risk waiting? But I just couldn't let him in, not by myself. I turned in his arms and looked into his blue eyes, I was right he had no gear on, not even his mask. The only thing he had on were his shorts. I reached up my hand and stroked his cheek. "Leo...I want to let you in, but I can't. I need help, please..."

He looked down at me for a moment, his eyes locked on mine. I could feel the tension brewing between us and for a moment I thought he would back away. He then brought his head down and kissed me for the second time that night. This time I didn't turn away but instead leaned into him. I was fighting myself and he knew it, he just took his time and let me over come my fears. We kissed for awhile until I was ready to move further. I let my hands glide over his well muscled arms that still held me close. I was actually trembling, I was so nervous. He felt it and pulled his head back, breaking the kiss. "Are you sure you want to do this? We can wait. As much as I want to do this, I don't want to rush you either."

My reply was kissing him on his chest, right where his plastron met his skin. He felt so warm under my lips. I could feel him pulling me closer, if that was even possible, and heard a real light moan form in his throat. That sound, as light as it was, sent chills down my spine and made a warm feeling spread in my lower stomache. I felt his hands tighten around my waist, then he slowly moved them down to my hips. He was so soft, so gentle as his hands found the bottom hem of my nightdress and slipped under it. It was my turn to moan softly now as I felt his finger tips on my skin as they moved up and around to my back, softly caressing me. I raised my lips from his chest and looked him in the eyes, god I loved those eyes I could get lost in them without a map and I would be deliriously happy in them...

He leaned in and kissed my cheek, then began to slowly work his way down my neck, nibbling and kissing as he went. His hands still working their magic on my back, his finger tips moving with such soft movements. Between the gentle hands and soft nibbles I let out another moan. I let my hands wander his chest, his plastron was surprisingly smooth. I then brought my hands over his arms again. I couldn't get over how strong but gentle they were. Still nibbling my neck I felt his hands wander to my lower back, then reach my underwear. I couldn't help but tense up as he started to remove them. He immediately stopped and pulled his head back again, his eyes searching mine but he didn't move his hands. I was scared, god I was scared, but I was going to overcome this fear damn it. I put my hands over his and pushed them down, along with the garment and they fell to the floor.

His eyes were still locked onto mine as he brought his hand between my legs and rubbed me very softly. That simple touch was like fire, I gasped loudly and arched back. He quickly steadied me with his other arm and pulled me close to him. He softly rubbed me as I moaned into his chest, god he was so gentle. Then I felt his fingers slip into my folds and my legs started to tremble, if it hadn't been for his other arm holding me up I would have collapsed. My breathing grew heavier as his finger worked it's magic inside me, then he brought his head down and caught me in yet another kiss. I moaned into his mouth hungrily, returning his kiss, my arms wrapped around his neck. God I was on fire and he was the fuel, I couldn't get enough of him.

He pulled his finger out and then picked me up, his lips still locked onto mine, and moved me to the bed. The bed that my ex and I had shared, I had been meaning to get rid of it but never got around to it. It always filled me with bad memories of him. Now there were going to be new memories made this night. Leo softly sat me down on the edge of the bed and then gently laid me back. I watched him as he made his way down to my legs, spreading them apart with his gentle hands. The he knelt down and brought his head towards me and fire exploded in me as he put is tounge to work. I moaned and my fingers were trying to dig holes in my bed covers as he worked his magic. It felt so good, he felt so good. I couldn't help but move my hips and he brought his hands on them to hold me steady. I lost myself in his movements, in the pleasures he was giving me. I could feel myself getting close and I quickly grabbed a pillow and bit into it, hard. Just as I did an enormous feeling rushed through my body and I moaned loudly into my pillow as wave after wave of pleasure filled me. Holy fucking shit, never have I had one that intense, and that was just with his mouth! Oh this was going to be a fun night...

I laid on the bed breathing heavily, trying to catch my breath. He leaned over me and brought his head down to nuzzled my neck again. Then he stopped and brought his mouth close to my ear. "Are you alright?" He whispered softly in my ear. I melted, he just gave me the orgasm of a lifetime and he was worried for me. How can your heart not melt? The last few rubble pieces of that wall I had spent years forming vanished. I was completely open to him. I knew he wouldn't touch me unless I answered him though so I nodded, wasn't quite ready for words just yet, and kissed his neck.

After a few moments I was able to breath again. I pushed him up until he was standing in front of me. My hands found their way to the top of his shorts and undid the ties that held them up. As my hands slid them down, I brought my mouth toward his inner thigh and softly brushed my lips and tounge against his skin. I heard a very peculiar sound come from him. Well whadaya know...the Turtles do actually churr when you arouse them... Take note of that folks, they do churr and it is a wonderful sound to hear. Finding the slit I was looking for wasn't hard either and I was impressed that he had that much self control to keep it penned up while he worked his magic on me. Now it was time to return the favor, softly I brushed my fingers over it, this time I was rewarded with a moan/churr combo. I could listen to that sound all night...

I continued to work my lips and tounge on him as my hand worked on his slit, slowly coaxing him out, listing to Leo's churrs of pleasure above me. I felt his hands in my hair, gently running his fingers through it. Finally I felt him drop into my hand with a moan and I removed my mouth from this thigh. Oh my, he was well built down there also. I took him into my mouth and I heard him gasp and his fingers tighten in my hair but he quickly let go and pulled them out. Dear, sweet Leo, he didn't want to hurt me in any way, not even by accidently pulling my hair. I softly let my mouth work on him and used my hand for what I couldn't reach. The dual motion of both my mouth and hand set of a series of moans and churrs from him, his hands stroking my head but being careful not to entangle those fingers in my hair. He didn't try to push my head to further get himself inside me more, he just let me go at my own pace. A pace he was obviously enjoying.

Finally he pulled himself away from me and, grabbing my hand, he gently pulled me to my feet. His hands then went to the hem of my night dress and this time I didn't hesitate a moment as he pulled it off. He looked at me with again with those glorious eyes of his, his hand caressing my cheek. "Are you sure?" He asked very quiet.

"Yes." Was my simple reply. He sat on my bed and took my hand and pulled me toward him, then he guided me to where I was straddling him on my knees. I felt his warm arms wrap around me to support me as I lowered myself onto him. The feeling of him inside me made a low moan escape my lips. I started to move, I brought my arms around him and pulled him as close as I could while I moved against him. There was nothing else that mattered at that moment, just me and him moving as one while the full moon shone through the window, the only sounds were our sounds of pleasure. At that moment everything was ignored but our need for each other. I was his and he was mine. I pulled him into a kiss as I grew close, he could feel me start to tighten up around him but I wasn't quite there yet. He removed an arm from behind me to my front and then lowered his hand, brushing me with a finger. That sent me over the edge and I held him firmly, pulling him as close as I could while my lips were pressed to his. I used his mouth to muffle my cries of pleasure as once again waves of release washed over me. His hold tightened on me as he too let himself go, his churr a long and low one this time. I collapsed against him, fully spent, the only thing holding me up were his strong arms. He shifted me around to where I was sitting on his lap, then he softly kissed my hair.

"Leo..." I sighed as I snuggled against him feeling his warm arms around me, holding me close to him. I leaned my head on his shoulder just happy to be so close to him. At that moment I felt complete, whatever happens in the future Leo would always know that I cared deeply for him. The thought of him leaving still brought a tear to my eye but at least I had this one moment with him. Refusing to cry and spoil this wonderful memory I let myself drift off to sleep in his arms secure in the knowledge that he would watch over me.

I woke up the next morning to the sound of the kids fighting over who got to use the bathroom first and the smell of breakfast drifting in. I could hear the TV on, Saturday morning cartoon apparently. I was lying in bed with the covers wrapped snugly around me. Confused at first I wondered why the hell was I butt friggin naked, then I remembered what happened last night. Still groggy with sleep, I thought at first I had dreamt the whole thing until I woke up enough to take in my surroundings. On the pillow next to me was a single white flower. I couldn't help the small smile that found it's way to my face.

I figured I had better get up and deal with the bathroom fight before someone got smacked upside the head with a shampoo bottle. I slowly got up and threw some clothes on. I opened the door to my room just in time to see a toothbrush come flying out of the bathroom. I sighed, it was going to be one of those days. I went in to see them playing tug of war with the toothpaste. Well that wasn't going to end well...

"Give me that." And I took it from them. I got a dual set of 'Oh shit, Mommy is up.' looks. "Amy brush your teeth. Dennis you go up front and wait your turn."

"But I wanna brush my teeth first!" Came the predictable whine.

"Up front. Now." Stomping every step of the way, he finally complied. I sighed and turned to help my daughter. If I let her do it own her own I'm going to scrape up toothpaste off of everything. Once she finished I called to Dennis that he could brush his teeth now and took Amy to her room to get her dressed. She picked out her clothes and got herself dressed with no problems, a lucky break for me, and I shooed her to go get some breakfast while I dealt with the stomp king. Finally I got them both at the table eating their breakfast that Mikey had made. I sighed as I plopped myself in a chair.

Mikey chuckled as he brought me a plate. "Rough morning?"

"It's always like this on the weekends." I told him. He just chuckled again. I looked around noticing the empty living room. "Where is everyone?"

"Out training. I thought I would stay here and get you guys something to eat started. We already ate."

"You didn't have to do that."

"I know I didn't have to, I wanted to."

I laughed. "Alright, you win. Thank you." He just winked and turned back to the stove to start cleaning up. After the kids finished eating I sent them outside. They had way to much energy this morning. I stayed inside and helped with the dishes, ignoring Mikey's protests. I just stuck my tounge out at him and did them anyway.

Finally with my kitchen back in order I went outside with Mikey. The kiddos were awfully quiet, usually not a good sign. I found them at the training area watching they guys train. Raph was pumping iron and Donnie and Leo were, what seemed to me, trying to beat the crap out of each other. I had to stop and stare for a moment. This was the first time I really watched them fight. Usually when they train I'm inside working, so I never really got to see this. They were beautiful to watch, their speed and grace taking my breath away. The kids were standing nearby watching in awe. Mikey went over to Raph and asked him if he was ready for a round, to which Raph nodded. Then they too unleashed their skill on each other. I walked over to the kids. "You guys stay away from them while they train. You can watch but don't get to close ok?" I got two nodding heads in reply, I knew I could trust them, they do listen believe it or not, so I went back into the house to take a quick shower before they guys came in to take theirs.

After I got done, I wrapped myself and my hair in towels and went to my room. Apparently just in time because I heard the front door open. I looked at the flower on my bed and I sat down on the bed and picked it up. I just sat there holding it my hand, my thoughts far away at that moment. It was just a simple wild flower, they grow all over the place here, but very pretty. I smiled again, this was something you never get to see on TV about Leo. Again he manged to surprise me.

"I take it you like the flower?" Yup, this time I jumped.

"Do you have to do that?"

He gave me that half grin of his. "Actually, yes I do." He came over to the bed and sat next to me.

I couldn't help but smile. "Yes, I love the flower." I looked at him. "Thank you, and I don't mean just for the flower either."

He reached out and pulled me close to him, wrapping an arm around me. Then he kissed my cheek. "Your very welcome. I'm going to go get cleaned up." I nodded and got up myself to start getting dressed. Leo had just left my room and closed the door, how the hell does he do that without it squeaking?, when I heard someone barge into the house. "Leo!" Came Donnie's voice "I think I figured out what happened. And I might know a way to get us back home." With those words I felt my heart drop in my chest and I sank back to the bed. Those words I really didn't want to hear just yet...and they stung as I replayed them in my mind. I didn't hear Leo's reply because I was to busy listening to my heart break. No I should be happy for him, he was going home where he belonged. I pulled myself together and refused to wallow in self pity. I knew this was going to happen, we both did. I was going to be stronger than that, I was going to let him go. It was the right thing to do. But why did it have to hurt so much...


	5. Chapter 5

For the upteenth time in ten minutes I smacked Mikey's hand off of the radio knob. "Leave the radio alone you goof. Jim is going to be pissed if you mess with his stuff." Grumbling he went back to where he was sitting. We were in my brother's van, the only vehicle large enough to hold all five of us. It was one of those old gas guzzling behemoths that were popular before the mini van came out. As large as it was Jim and Donnie still had to take out all the seats to fit the guys in.

We were making a not really legal night run to the city dump/junk yard in the next town over so Donnie could gather parts to put together his idea of getting them home. I was trying to drive and keep Mikey away from the radio at the same time. It was bad enough Jim had to basically tear out the inside of it, I didn't want him to be upset because Mikey broke his radio. Not to mention he was stuck at my place with my little rascals. My brother loves his van, god help me I bring it back with anything wrong. And to make matters worse I was pulling a trailer and I was out of practice with that. I could pull one if I had to, learned it in the army, but I didn't do it often anymore. I really didn't need Mikey's antics right now.

The other three were chuckling at Mikey's grumbles. "I think you can live for a little road trip with out music." Raph told him.

"Hey, there is music on." I protested.

"Yeah, but it's country music. Not really my thing." Came the grumpy voice of the youngest behind me.

"Mikey, I love you like a brother, but sometimes you act like my kids." That brought out laughter behind me, even Mikey.

"How much farther?" Leo asked.

"Another few minutes to reach town, then I have to drive through it to get to the dump. About another fifteen minutes or so."

We rode quietly for awhile as I turned off of the freeway and pulled into the city limits. Carefully I made my way through the town. My driving was near perfect tonight, there was no way I was going to risk getting pulled over. The guys in the back might be hard to explain. Finally we made it to the seedier part of town, I really hated coming here. Even during the day the place was a shit hole of the town's degenerates. Drugs was becoming a big problem in this area and you could tell. A lot of abandoned houses and such. If it wouldn't be for the fact I had them with me I wouldn't even think of coming here. Finally I turned a corner and the dump was in front of me. I pulled the van around to the fence and drove down the little service road running along side it. I wanted to be out of sight as much as possible. Finally I found a secluded spot and pulled in, then turned the van off. "There you go guys. That fence there is where you need to go."

We got out and walked over to the fence. "Can you get over that? Or do I need to pull the van closer?."

"No, it's fine, we can get over that." Donnie told me. I shrugged. It seemed pretty high to me, but then I wasn't a Ninja Turtle. Donnie grinned at me and took a running start, then he launched himself into the air and flipped over the fence, easily clearing it.

"Show off." I muttered. Raph and Mikey followed Donnie over. Man I have to admit I was getting jealous, I wished I could do that.

Leo came up to me. "You going to be ok here?"

"Yeah, I suppose. This isn't the best spot in town but I tried to hide us as best I could. I'm hoping no one will see me here."

He leaned in and kissed my cheek. "We will try to hurry."

"Don't miss anything you might need just because of me, Leo. I'll be ok." He gave me that 'I don't knoooow' look but went over the fence anyway. I sighed as I watched them slip out of sight. Suddenly I felt alone, I wasn't used to having at least one of them not in close proximity. I sat down on the edge of the trailer and found myself looking up at the sky as I always did when I was alone outside. The moon was still as bright as it was last night, though it was a bit cloudy tonight. It gave the moon a softer, fuzzier glow but it was still pretty. Faintly I could hear them chattering in there, mainly Mikey goofing off. Followed by Leo's "Will you guys knock it off and be quiet!" I couldn't help but chuckle at that one. I had a few days now to compare the real them to the ones I grew up with. For the most part, to me anyway, they seemed to be a mix of all the tv shows rolled into one. They had their goofy moments but there were times when they could be serious to a fault, well most of them, Mikey was always a goof. As could be heard from the renewed antics going on in the dump. This time it sounded like there was a wrestling match going on in there, lots of clattering and 'Ow,ow,ow,ow,!" could be heard. Then there was a double slapping noise. "Knock it off! Jeez are you trying to get us caught? Mikey go help Donnie, Raph you come with me." I laughed openly at that.

"Your not helping." I heard coming my way, I guess Leo could hear me. That shut me up real quick. If he could hear me then so could others and I had no clue who could be out here. But It was nice to know that they were in ear shot. Made me felt a bit better. I started to wonder if Leo had done that on purpose. He knew why I didn't want to be here after dark and maybe this was his way of watching over me.

I walked around back to the driver's door, fully intent on hiding in the van. It was to exposed out here, at least in the van I could lock myself in. I was almost there when I found out I had been to slow with that idea. I was grabbed from behind and a hand went over my mouth. "Well, well, well. What are you doing here bitch?" I heard.

Shit, maybe my laugh had given me away after all. There was one holding me and four more came into view in front of me. The van was between me and the fence, the guys wouldn't be able to see me. With my mouth covered I couldn't even scream. They moved closer to me. "Let me show you what we do to trespassers on our turf." The one directly in front of me mumbled.

I didn't give him the chance, I'm not a Ninja but I'm not exactly helpless either. I had a sergeant when I was in the service that made it his personal mission to make sure his troops could handle themselves. I now thanked Sgt. Cortez silently as I stomped my foot onto the one holding me then kicked the same leg out and nailed the leader in the nuts. I felt the hand release my mouth and I took that moment and used it. "Get off of me!" I yelled then elbowed the one holding me in the nose. I knew I couldn't fight them off, there were five of them, but if I could just keep them away long enough...

The other three moved in and grabbed me again as their pals got themselves together. I took satisfaction in the fact the one I elbowed had a bleeding nose. They pushed me up against the van and I managed to get another kick in. I connected with someone's shin. "You fucking slut, we were just going to take your money and van. Now it's personal."

"Your not taking shit. I told them." I noticed a dark shadow fly over the van, landing quietly behind them. Another followed close behind.

"Like there is anything you can do to stop us." The man sneered.

"She won't have to." Raph growled and then he and Leo lashed out. Anyone want to take bets on how that turned out? Leo and Raph didn't even pull out their weapons, they just punched the guys into submission. After they had pummeled the guys into the ground, much to my satisfaction, Leo and Raph came up to me. Leo took me into his arms, ignoring his brother's stunned look. "Are you alright?" I could see Raph's sly grin. Oh boy...

"I'm fine, Leo." I told him, still wrapped up in his arms.

"You handled yourself well." Raph chuckled. "Looks like you got a hit or two in yourself."

"I'm not completely defenseless you know." I said pulling away from Leo. Raph's cheesy grin was starting to embarress me.

"So, were you guys going to tell us about this?"

Leo sighed. "We weren't trying to hide it really, Raph. We are just trying to figure things out ourselves."

Raph looked at his brother then at me. I think he understood at that moment exactly what we were dealing with. Hell the reason we were here in the first place was to get Donnie some stuff so he could build something to take them home. Raph may look like a big hotheaded brute, but he is smart. And not without compassion either, as I seen in his eyes once he figured out how this was going to turn out for us. He was shrewd too, as his next action proved. After giving his brother and me a sly look he said. "I'm going go tie these guys up and dump them in the woods somewhere, then I'll go back and help Donnie. You ok to stay here with her?" Leo nodded.

I saw right through his little scheme, and I think Leo did to. I let him know he wasn't fooling me. "Thanks for the alone time, bud." I told him. He gave me a big cheesy grin again and winked. He and Leo then secured to bumbling wanna be vanjackers and drug them into the woods. Then I saw Raph's dark form run out of the woods and leap over the fence again. Leo walked back towards me. "You sure your alright?"

"I'm fine, really." I replied as he came up to me and slipped his arms around me. He just quietly held me close to him. "He's going to tell the others, isn't he?"

Leo chuckled. "Probably."

I sighed and laid my head on his shoulder. "Well there goes what little piece and quiet I did have..."

This time he laughed. "I can go brick up his mouth if you want."

"No," I giggled "it's fine." I wasn't really bothered by it. Hell we weren't really trying to hide it honestly, but we both knew Mikey. He wasn't going to let us live this down.

We stood quietly listening to the noises of his brothers as they were puttering around. "You guys finding anything in there Donnie needs?"

"Surprisingly yes. It's a good thing you brought the trailer."

Suddenly Leo stiffened, I could feel it in his body. Something had gotten his attention. I raised my head up and looked at him. "Get in the van and lock yourself in. " He whispered. "Hide in the back." He softly pushed me to the van. Once I got in and locked the door I looked for him but he was no where to be seen. Then I saw some more forms moving around in the shadows. Shit, apparently the morons from earlier had friends looking for them. I quickly ducked down and made my way toward the back of the van.

"Hey look what we have here." I heard. "Someone left us a nice van to play with." I heard someone try the handle.

"It's locked." Said another voice.

"I thought we were out here to look for those idiots. We were supposed to meet up with them an hour ago." There were three at least out there.

"I'd rather have the van. I'm not going to search the whole area for them." said the first one. "Go around and check the other doors while I try to jimmy this one open."

I heard something playing with the driver's door as two sets of footsteps went around the van. Then just as quick and the noises started it stopped, followed by a grunt. I couldn't help but smile, Leo was getting his exercise tonight. Then on the other side of the van I heard someone thud into it, hard. Ouch...sucks to be them.

I heard a soft knock on the side door and I opened it up. I couldn't help but chuckle as I saw Leo standing there over two bodies laying in the grass. "I'll be right back, I'm going to dump them with their friends. Stay in the van." I nodded and closed the door back up.

A few minutes later he came back and I stepped back out. "Your pretty useful to have around." I smiled at him.

He grinned back at me. "That never gets boring." I laughed quietly.

"Hey If you two are done making out we could use some help here!" That was followed by laughter from the other two. I'm going to kill that orange masked turtle...

Leo just sighed and hopped over the fence to help his brothers. It was slow going trying to get all of the stuff over the fence and into the trailer. Donnie had found a lot of crap and some of it was heavy. I was curious to see what he would turn all this junk into. Finally we got everything loaded up and tied down and we all piled into the van. Carefully I maneuvered the clumsy contraption back out onto the road and started to drive us home.

"So, did you guys have fun?" Mikey asked. (smack) "Hey! I was just asking Leo! Jeez..."

"And I answered."

"Did you have to answer like that?"

"You want another one?"

"Nope. I'm good. For a few minutes anyway."

I just shook my head smiling. These guys were nuts. "Did you get everything you need, Donnie?"

"I think so. Everything I can get from there anyway."

"Good." Leo spoke up. "I really don't want to go back if we don't have too."

"Raph told us what happened." Donnie said.

"More came after that." Leo told him.

"And you didn't let me know?"

"There was only three Raph. I can handle three."

"I just don't want you to over work yourself is all."

"Ha. Ha. Very funny."

"I thought it was." Mikey chirped "Hey McDonald's!"

"We are not stopping." Leo told him.

"But I'm hungry!"

"Your always hungry." Donnie said "I don't know where you put it all."

"In that empty space where his brain is supposed to be." came from Raph. This was followed by a round of chuckles.

"I wonder what's on the radio..." I slapped his hand as it reached for the knobs.

"Seriously? Are we going to go through this again Mikey?" I asked him.

"I was hoping you changed your mind."

"Sit down you oaf." Raph told him. Grumbling the youngest sat back down. I'll give them one thing, it's never boring with them. The rest of the way home was filled with this kind of banter. I almost had to pull over a few times because I was laughing so hard. Finally I pulled into our long drive and parked the van in front of the house. I went inside to let Jim know I was home and give him back his keys. Mikey came in right behind and raided my fridge.

"Garbage gut." I smiled at him. He just winked at me. I went back outside. "Just unhook the trailer guys. We can unload it in the morning. It's getting late." They nodded and began to unhook it. I let them do it, there was no way in hell I could lift that. Once it was unhooked my brother said his goodnights and drove his van home. I yawned as I watched him go.

"You look tired." Leo said.

"I am. You guys kept me up way past my bedtime."

I caught a mischievous gleam in his eye. "Oh no don't you-" He scooped me up into his arms bridal style. "Oh come on! Put me down!" I could hear the others laughing as he carried me into the house. I was so going to hurt him...

"Hey, Leo. You might as well sleep in there with her tonight. You two aren't fooling anyone anymore." Raph grinned as we walked into the house. Oh lord I was going to die from embarressment. I knew I had to be blushing.

"Yeah, that will give me more room on the couch." Mikey said. He also had a grin on his face. So did Donnie.

"You guys are so dead." I told them.

"You can kill them tomorrow." Leo told me smiling

"Your on my shit list to! Put me down!"

"I'll make that up to you in private."

I gave up. There was no way I was getting out of this one. I just laid my blushing face into his shoulder and let him carry me to my room.


	6. Chapter 6

Later that night, much later actually, I finally let Leo off the hook. I figured he worked hard enough to make it up to me as I lay exhausted in his arms. At this rate I'm never going to get a full night of sleep anymore. Well as long as he was here anyway...Damn it, I had to go there, the one thought I had been trying to avoid all day. I snuggled closer into him, trying to hide my tears from him. I didn't want him to see me cry, I didn't want him to regret anything. He made me so happy and that's all I wanted him to see. I didn't want him to see how the thought of him leaving tore me apart. Trying to hide anything from him however is next to impossible. Leo is to aware of everything that happens around him not to notice. I felt his arms tighten around me. "Talk to me." He whispered.

"I just don't want you to see me cry."

"Oh, Vicky...I would be surprised if you didn't." He kissed my hair.

"I don't want you remembering my as a blubbering cry baby."

He laughed softly. "Your a nut."

"I'm serious."

"I know you are, and that's what makes it so funny." He lifted my face up to his. "Trust me, there will be more than tears in my memories of you." He whispered, then kissed me softly. "A lot more." He softly brushed my cheek with his thumb.

I sighed, he always seemed to know what to say to make me feel better. For a little while anyway. I just couldn't help but wonder if we did the right thing between us.

"Stop it." He said.

"Stop what?"

"Doubting what we did." Seriously? What the hell! Could he read minds now? "I don't regret a single thing that happened between us."

"How in the hell do you do that?"

"Ninja secret."

"Smart ass." He grinned at me. I sighed and laid my head on his shoulder again. He felt so warm against my skin, it was actually very soothing. Who needs a blanket when you have a nice warm Leo to snuggled up against. Finally I couldn't hold sleep back anymore and I drifted off.

I was startled awake the next morning by the sound of a loud clatter. Talking about having a heart attack, jeez.

"Be careful you butterfingers!" I heard Donnie fuss at someone.

"I'm trying! The stupid thing is heavy!" Go figure, Mikey.

"Can you guys get any louder? There is still someone sleeping." That was Leo.

"Hey, it's not our fault you kept her awake so late." Mikey popped back. I waited. (smack) Yup there it was. "Ow!"

"Raph, help him with that. Move out of the way you two. Mikey might drop something on you." I heard the kids laugh. Oh lord. I must really have been tired, I didn't even hear the kids get up. I slowly got up then threw my robe on. They must be unloading the trailer. I yawned and made my way to the shower while they were all busy. I just stood there and let the warm water pour over me. Lord I was still tired and the warmth of the water really wasn't helping. If anything it made it worse. I kind of drifted off in a not quite awake state of mind, barly consious. I have no idea why I didn't fall over, or how long I was in a daze.

I snapped back awake when I heard the kids outside the bathroom window, sounded like a game of tag. Coming back to like that however did a number on my equalibrium and I felt a wave of dizziness hit me. I reached out to support myself on the shower wall just as I felt a pair of hands grab me around the waist. "Easy, I got you." Leo murmered. Ok he really had to tell me how he does that. And if he says 'Ninja secret' again I'm going to hurt him. He pulled me close to him the reached in to turn the water off. "You are going back to bed." He told me as he reached for a towel. Holding me with one arm he dried me off with the other. I was to tired to argue with him and I just leaned against him letting him work. It actually felt kind of nice to be babied for once. He helped me into my robe and once again I was picked up and carried.

Mikey was standing in the hallway, apparently waiting for his turn in the shower. "She alright?"

"Just tired I think. Get the door for me."

Mikey opened the bedroom door and stepped aside. The next thing I knew I was tucked back into bed. I was already starting to fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. The last thing I remember was Leo kissing my cheek, then I was out.

I woke up late afternoon and now I really felt like crap. My head hurt, I felt cold and my stomache felt like it was doing flips. Shit, this wasn't good. I tried to sit up and everything spun around me, yup really not good, and I let myself fall back into my pillow. Great...I was sick. I had a house full of mischievuos turtles and two energetic kids and I was sick. I wondered what kind of bug my kids brought me home from school this time. Fuck it, I was getting up anyway. I got up and got dressed, Leo had left me in my robe, I guess he just wanted to get me into bed as quick as possible.

I opened the door and I heard they guys talking, and there was the occasional giggle of a little one. I listened as I walked up.

"I do not act like that!' I heard Mikey complain.

"I think they got you perfect." Raph chuckled. "I'm loving Donnie's crush on April thing. That's just to funny."

"Keep it up and I'll test that cockroach fear of yours out." Donnie replied. Oh lord...they couldn't be watching what I think they were watching... I rounded the corner to the living room. Yup, they were. There was a Ninja turtle marathon on, the 2012 series, and they were all gathered around the TV. That was actually kind of amusing...

"You bring a bug near me and I'll break your hand." Raph replied to Donnie.

Leo just shook his head. "I can't believe I'm watching this."

"Kind of takes your ego down a bit, doesn't it?" Donnie chuckled.

"The sad thing is it actually does remind me of us when we were kids." Leo replied laughing. "Especially Mikey's cooking attempts."

"And his pranks." Raph said.

"Hey!" Came the predictable protest.

I laughed as I moved into the living room. I didn't get far however when a wave of dizziness hit me. Raph shot up out of his chair and caught me as I lost my balance again. Leo was next to me in an instant. "Leo, she's burning up." Raph told him.

Donnie walked up to me and felt my head. "She's got a fever."

"Guess where your going." Leo told me.

"Come on guys, I have kids to take care of." I protested.

"Your not going to do them much good if you fall flat on your face." Once again he picked me up. I was starting to wonder if he would ever let me walk again. I was plopped right back in my bed. "Stay put." He covered me up.

"Your a bully."

"You are just now figuring that out?" He smiled.

Donnie came into the room. "All right, what's wrong?"

"You guys are worse than a bunch of mother hens." I grumbled.

"Thank you. Now again, what's wrong?" Donnie replied.

I gave up. I told him my list of aches and pains. Then I asked for a bucket as he was about to witness one symptom first hand. Donnie brought me the one I kept in the kitchen just in time and I got sick in it. "Sounds like a bad stomache virus. Bed and a light diet for you. And lots of fluids." Donnie told me. I sighed as he took the bucket and went to go clean it out.

Leo sat on the bed next to me. "You look like crap."

"Was that supposed to make me feel better?"

He smiled. "Well I'm not going to lie to you."

Donnie came back with the now clean bucket. "Here you might need this again."

I glared at them. "So am I allowed to go to the bathroom? Or are you going to make me use a bedpan?"

Donnie looked at me and grinned. "I can make you one if you want."

I had just enough energy to throw a pillow at him. Of course he was to quick for me and dodged it. He laughed as he left the room, tossing the pillow to Leo. He caught it and put it back on the bed. "Get some rest. Don't worry we will take care of the kids. We will even get them up for school tomorrow. You take care of yourself." He leaned over and kissed my forehead and left the room.

It took me about 2 days to shake the bug under Donnie and Leo's watchful eyes. Mikey brought me toast when I could stand something in my stomache and I had slowly worked my way up to broth. I had to admit they took good care of the kids and I. Especially Raph, He was the one that got them up in the morning and kept them occupied when they got home. Surprises you doesn't it? I think we all know he acts tougher than he really is. He does have a softer side to him, he just doesn't show it. And for once Mikey didn't tease him about it.

Finally I was allowed out of bed and began to move around the house, though they still wouldn't let me do any housework. But somehow my laundry stayed caught up and the living room looked nice. I had to ask them how in the world they managed it... Trying to keep toys from being scattered everywhere drove me nuts sometimes. Hell they even managed to get the kids to clean their rooms. Mom came by every once in awhile to check on things, Leo had told her I was sick. I think she was as pleasantly surprised as I was.

Finally I was allowed to go outside, I had Mikey hovering over me the whole time, but I was outside. I missed being outdoors. I had always loved nature, even when I was a kid. That's why I love living out here so much and I spent as much time outdoors as I could. I was sitting in a lawn chair watching Donnie work on his project. He had been working on it when he wasn't helping Leo bully me to stay in bed. It seemed to me he was making progress on it. I still had no idea how It was supposed to work though. Wasn't sure if I wanted the explanation either, it might give me a headache. I couldn't help a sad sigh as I watched him work. That would be the thing that brings them home.

Leo and Raph were sparring in the field, and once again their movements took my breath away. They were so quick you would miss a lot if you blinked. Maybe I should record this and watch it in slow motion. "How the hell do you guys move so fast?" I just had to ask Mikey.

"Master Splinter was a hard teacher. If you didn't move quick enough, you got hit." He grinned. "And he didn't pull his punches either. If he was going to hit you, he really hit you. We learned real quick while training that we had to be fast. Now, we have been doing it for so long it seems normal for us."

"But it awes anyone who watches you." I told him. "It's a thing of beauty to watch you guys." Leo and Raph had picked up the pace and I could barely follow their movements. The match was over when Raph was on the ground. I hadn't even seen what Leo did to him to get him there it went so fast. Leo went to help his brother up and Raph accepted his hand and stood up. I just shook my head. Amazing.

Suddenly there was the sound of a car pulling into the drive. The good thing is where we were you couldn't see from the drive way. It's why I had the guys set their stuff up behind the house. If I did get company they had time to hide before the car made it to the house. I got up out of the chair as the guys did their disappearing act and walked around the house. It was my best, and pretty much only, friend Mandi. "Hey! Your mom told me your were sick. I came to check on you." She said as she got out of the car.

"Hi, Mandi. I'm feeling better, why didn't you call me and let me know you were coming over?"

"I did. It kept going to voicemail." Ooops...My phone was on my desk I now remembered. "And I came over to see why you have been so quiet the last few days. I haven't heard anything from you since you called Leon for his old weights. You got a boyfriend here I don't know about?"

I couldn't help but blush and she saw it. She squealed "You _do_ have a boyfriend! Who Is he? Where is he from? What does he do? Do I know him?"

Did I hear a snicker coming from the roof?

I sighed. I knew she wouldn't leave me alone until I spilled the beans. I walked back around the house to go sit back in my chair with her chattering self following me. I sat back down and she sat in the same chair Mikey had occupied just moments before. "So are you going to talk?" She was so excited. Normally she is a much calmer person.

I looked at her. "Mandi, you have to keep this between us. Don't even tell Leon. That husband of yours has a loose mouth." I told her seriously. "This is very important."

She returned the look, now back into her usual calm, serious self. This was important and she knew it. "Alright, is everything ok?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Vicky please, tell me. Your starting to scare me."

"I'm not trying to. As a matter of fact I'm safer now than you could possibly imagine."

"Are you going to tell me or not?"

It hung there a moment, I wanted to tell her but I had the obligation to keep the guys' secret too. It wasn't really my call to reveal them. "I can't. Not that I don't want too, I trust you enough to know you will keep your trap shut. I just can't."

"Why on earth not?"

"Because it's not her choice to make." Came Leo's calm voice from behind us. Mandi turned around in shock and froze, her mouth dropping open. Standing behind us were the guys.

"Holy..." She looked at me. "How...are they...SHIT!" She got herself under control with enormous effort. "Wow."

"You alright?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I just never thought I would actually, you know, get to meet them."

"Please, you can't tell anyone."

"I won't. I'm not that stupid."

I smiled at her. "Guys this is my best friend, Mandi. Trust me, she knows who you are."

Leo smiled. "So this is the famous Mandi. We have heard a lot about you."

"Really? From who?"

Mikey laughed. "From those two adorable children who look up to you like an Aunt."

"You wouldn't believe how much they talk about you." Donnie added.

"It don't surprise me either." I said. "She spoils them rotten."

She grinned at me. "So which one is the boyfriend?" Damn it, Mandi! There went that blush again.

"Busteeeeed." Raph, Mikey and Donnie chimed, pushing Leo forward. I blushed even more. At this rate I was going to turn into a lobster if they didn't quit.

"You guys are a bunch of babies." I told them. Three grins was my only answer.

Mandi chuckled. "So who is going to entertain me with the story of how this all happened?"

So the guys sat down in the remaining chairs and we told her of what had happened, and how Donnie was working on a way to get them home. By the time we got her caught up we heard the school bus pull up. "I'll go get them." She said and got up and walked around the house. You could hear the happy hollers as they noticed who was getting them off the bus today. Then they came tearing around the house. "Mommy, Mandi is here!"

"I know." I smiled at them. "Any homework today?"

Two heads told me no. "Then go get out of your school clothes then you can go play." They dashed into the house.

The next couple of hours was pleasant. Mandi and I had a chance to talk, Donnie went back to his machine, Leo and Raph helping him and Mikey went in to start supper. I had offered to help but got the 'Don't you dare get up' look. Mandi chuckled. Then she looked at the contraption taking shape in my yard. "So that's what's going to send them home?"

"Yeah." I got quiet.

"How does it work?"

"I don't know. And honestly I can't bring myself to ask." I told her quietly.

She looked at me. "You fell for Leo hard, didn't you." She asked me softly.

"Honestly the feelings were already there. I just never thought..."

"That you would get to act out on them?"

I nodded. We had been friends for years, she knew what I was struggling with. She reached out her hand and took mine. "It will be ok. If it was meant to be something will work out."

"I don't see how. We both know they don't belong here."

She just smiled and held my hand. I knew she would be there for me when the time came to say goodbye, she knew I would need her.


	7. Chapter 7

Mandi left right before dinner was finished, she had her own three kids to fix supper for. As she made her way down the drive Leo came up next to me, for once not scaring the pants off of me. "You have a good friend there."

"Yeah, one of the best you can ask for. She has helped me out a lot, especially during my divorce. You know, I wasn't going to tell her about you. Why on earth did you guys blow your cover?"

Leo was quiet for a moment. "I figured you might need her support here pretty soon." He said quietly. "And that would be hard if she didn't know what was going on. The guys agreed with me."

I looked at him stunned. He blew his cover for me? I was speechless. Mikey broke me out of my stunned bafflement. "Hey! Are you two going to come eat or what!" He yelled across the yard.

Leo chuckled and laid an arm across my shoulders and we walked to the house.

Mandi became a regular visitor at the house now, more that normal. She grew up with them too and didn't want to miss the chance to get to know them better. Of course the kids were thrilled to see more of her, the guys seemed to like her a lot too. We always had a lot of joking and laughter when she was there.

She really made an impression on Mikey when she showed up on evening with some pizza. I had to laugh, I don't know who got to her faster the kids or Mikey. "Lord it's like feeding time at the dang zoo!" She griped as the pizza boxes were ripped out of her hands.

Raph had come up behind his little brother and snatched the boxes from him. "Mind your dang manners."

"I don't have manners." Mikey grinned.

"You want me to take you outside and teach you some?"

"Aaah, no thanks Raph. I think I just found them." He turned to Mandi. "Thank you for the pizza."

The rest of us burst out in laughter.

During those days Donnie still worked on his device, checking and rechecking it over and over again, making adjustments as he went. He knew it was their only way home and would not leave anything to chance.

A few days later the words I dreaded the most passed Donnie's lips. "It's done." He stood up from where he had been kneeling next to the machine, brushing dirt and grime from his hands. And with those two words I felt a gut wrenching pain in my chest. I suppressed it the best I could, but something must have slipped through because I felt Leo slip his hand in mine and squeeze it.

We were all standing outside on the cool Saturday afternoon. Summer was starting to wind down now and the days were starting to cool off bit by bit everyday. I sighed and finally asked the question I had been avoiding. "So how does it work?"

Donnie looked at me kind of shocked, his wide eyes even bigger behind his thick glasses. I would have laughed, if I didn't feel like crying. I think he knew why I was avoiding the question, and it had nothing to do with my limited intelligence. "Well to put it simple, I downloaded your computer information on it to open the doorway we need. It was either that or I hook up your computer. I didn't think you would like it If I fried it though."

I smiled. "No I wouldn't have liked that."

"This is where it gets tricky. But I'll keep it simple. Somehow when the lighting hit, it surged through your computer and somehow reacted with the files opening a gate with the video you were watching. That noise you heard from your computer that night was us coming through that portal."

I blinked. "Is that even possible...I mean it just seems so... made up. No offense."

"None taken." He smiled. "It's a bit more detailed than that but that's generally what happened. I rigged this up to work the same way, but in reverse. We have to be standing near it for it to work though."

I let that sink in. "You mean you are going to stand out here in a thunderstorm and wait for lighting to hit it?" I asked him. "Are you fucking nuts?"

He laughed. "That's what the long piece of metal is for. The bolt will hit that and be sent down. It's just a lighting rod on steroids."

My eyes were still a bit wide as I looked at him. "You better hope it works..." I mumbled.

"Have I been wrong yet, Leo?"

"I'm staying out of it, but if you toast me your in for it."

"So we just sit and wait for the next thunderstorm to roll in?" I asked.

"Yeah, pretty much." Donnie replied.

"That might be awhile, they are starting to wind down for the year. We might get one or two good ones before fall sets in."

"Well I can't make something to control the weather so we will have to wait." Donnie shrugged.

Well at least that gave me some more time with them. Leo squeezed my hand again, the same thing apparently crossing his mind. We spent the next few days watching the weather. There was actually a warm up spell to where it got almost uncomfortably hot. Whit a cold front coming in the next few days. Set up for some decent storms. If they were going to hit my area remained yet to be seen. I watched this unfold with a mix of happiness that they could go home and grief because they were leaving.

Finally the day came. It was a hot sticky day and we hid inside with the AC on. I quietly watched as the day progressed and the storms started to fire up. They guys had already made their goodbye rounds to my family and Mandi. She had come by to pick up the kids for the night, figuring I might not be in the best condition if they did leave tonight. "Call me if you need me. I'll have Leon watch them." She said before she pulled away.

They guys seemed kind of quiet to this evening. Leo especially, he never really left my side. I caught the other three look at us when they thought I couldn't tell and I figured what was going on in their heads. As the sun started going down it became obvious that we were going to get hit. Every map we looked at showed that we were in the path of a monster storm. This was going to happen tonight. Leo and I stood there looking at the latest map when he grabbed my hand and pulled me into the bedroom. For once the others didn't tease him, they just quietly looked on.

He closed the door behind us and spun me around to face him. He pulled me into a fierce kiss, one that I gladly returned. One more time with him, just one more...

His lips went from my lips to my neck and I leaned my head back, giving him full access. His hands wandered my body, trying, it seemed, to store everything in his memory one last time. He brought his hand up to my breast and gently squeezed, the feeling made me moan into his neck softly as he still nibbled on mine. My hands worked on the ties of his clothing around his waist and I managed to get them undone. I slipped my hand over his slit and was rewarded with a soft churr in my ear as I gently stroked him. He pulled away from my neck and met my mouth in another hungry kiss. He pushed me gently against the wall and undid my jeans, slowly pulling them and my underwear down until they dropped to the floor and I stepped out of them, kicking them to the side.

His gentle finger slid in between my legs and softly began to caress me as I was still coaxing him out of hiding, our lips and tounges tasting all we could of each other's mouths. With a churr he finally dropped into my hand and I ran that hand up and down his length, softly. He removed his hand from my, now wet, folds and lifted me up and lowered me onto him. I moaned as I felt him fill me, his arms under my thighs and his body holding me against the wall. I wrapped my arms around him as we started to move as one. With the first sounds of thunder rumbling in the sky, we held onto each other, making that one last final memory. With a sense of urgency now we moved harder against each other, driving ourselves closer to release. Finally, with a gasp and moan, I felt myself let go. I tightened around him and that brought him to his climax with me. His arms tightened their hold on me as we rode out our pleasure together. He held me close against the wall for a few moments, with my head on his shoulder, to let me catch my breath. A louder crack of thunder told us both that it was time.

He softly put me down and we quickly redressed ourselves. We walked back up front and found the others waiting by the back door. The sky was full of lighting, but it wasn't close enough yet. The machine was set and ready in the field outside of the door, all that was missing was the storm and it wouldn't be long anymore before last piece was here. I held on tightly to Leo as we watched it move in, but I refused to let him see me cry.

The storm made it's way toward us and now I could see a lot of individual strikes hit the ground. Then the wind picked up as the front of the storm closed in on us, and the rain started to fall.

"It's time." Donnie said quietly. He turned to me and softly pulled me out of Leo's arms and gave me a hug of his own. "Thank you for everything." I smiled at him. "Your welcome, Donnie." I returned his hug.

Raph was next, the big guy surprisingly gentle. "You take care of them kids." He told me in his best grumpy but not grumpy voice. "You know I will big guy."

I turned to Mikey. "You behave yourself." I told him as he too was given a hug. "I don't know the meaning of behave." He grinned at me. I laughed.

Finally I turned to Leo and he took me into his arms and held me tight. There was a loud crack outside. I pulled away from him and he kissed me softly on the cheek. "I'll miss you." He whispered.

"I know. Just like I will miss you."

"We have to go, guys. Now." Donnie said looking up. Leo let go of me and followed his brothers out of the house and they began to cross the field.

I watched as they made their way out in the field. There was something I wanted to say but had never had the courage to. Something Leo needed to know before he left. They were about halfway there when I ran after them, ignoring the wind and the cold rain. Leo heard me coming and turned and I flung myself into his arms, now crying. I looked up into his eyes, his glorious eyes that I'll never see again. "I love you." I told him tears making their way now down my face, mixing with the rain. The storm was now raging around us throwing my long brown hair around wildly, the sky ablaze with lightning and the fields echoing the thunder. He returned my gaze and lowered his head to kiss me gently, his tounge softly caressing mine as I let him in one last time. Then he slowly pulled his head back. "I love you too." His hand reached out and caressed my face. Then he turned and walked the rest of the way to stand with his brothers. Donnie had fired up the device and everything was now ready.

This time I stayed where I was. I watched him stand there, his eyes locked firmly on mine, until finally a bright flash hit the rod and there was a deafening crack of thunder. When my vision cleared they were gone. I collapsed onto the now muddy field and cried like a brokenhearted child, ignoring everything around me.


	8. Chapter 8

They were gone. Leo was gone. I sat there in the rain and with tear filled eyes stared at the last spot I had seen them, somehow hoping my eyes were playing tricks on me. A loud crack of thunder made me finally get up and make my way back to the house. I slowly made my way to my bedroom and stripped out of the now soaked clothing and put some dry clothes on. The storm was blowing over now, moving out of the area.

I walked back up to my now empty living room. It felt strange after weeks of it being crammed full of ninja turtles. My phone rang and I picked it up and answered it. "Hey..." Came Mandi's voice. "Did it work?"

"Yes." I told her, my voice was shakey.

There was quiet on the other end of the line. "You want me to come over?"

"No, it's fine. I just want to be alone tonight. Thank you though."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. If you want we can hang out tomorrow after you take the kids to school."

"Ok, I'll be there. I know it's hard but try and get some sleep, ok?"

"I will. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Take care." then she hung up.

I put the phone down and sat looking out the window for awhile, at the lighting playing across the sky in the distance. I finally sighed and got up and went to bed, tearing up at the thought of how empty it would be with out Leo.

Needless to say for the next few days I was a mess. I missed them and my small home seemed so empty now without them here and my bed felt empty without Leo in it next to me. It took awhile but I slowly got back into my preturtle routine. That didn't mean they never crossed my mind. They would pop into my head numerous times during the day. I'd make supper and I'd recall some of the conversations Mikey and I would have, more and more I found myself cooking the way he did. The kids didn't seem to mind if I tried some of his ideas and failed miserably. They knew I was trying to keep some part of Mikey there for them and the only way I could was through the food. I eventually got better but the first few meals were rough.

I found Donnie's influence all over my computer when I worked. Before I had a bad signal problem, it happens sometimes when you live out in the boonies, and I had days where I just couldn't get any work done because of it. Now the whole thing acted like I was the one to slow. He had also left me detailed instructions on how to fix anything that might need fixing on it. He knew I was anything but a tech geek and he did everything he could to make sure my PC was running top notch. For and old piece of crap it ran better now than the most advanced military computer, well not that good but you get the idea.

Raph and Leo was seen in the presence of the kids themselves. They had changed a bit. Both of them, but mainly my daughter, had quick tempers. When they flared it wasn't pretty. I can't tell you how many times they had to dodge or deflect the other's thrown toys. Most of the time the evasive maneuvers didn't work. Now they talk more to each other if something bothers them. I didn't really understand where this change had come from until I heard Amy tell Dennis something one day. He was struggling with his homework, he was frustrated that day and it just didn't click for him. I could tell he was getting mad. Amy walked up to him "Remember, Raph said 'If you get mad at it, take a break. Breaks help.' " Dennis nodded and walked away from the table. I just stood there stunned. Normally she would make fun of him, not that time.

"Raph told you that?" I asked her.

She nodded. "He says he knows what its like to get really mad. Told us if we ever get mad like that to take a break. Didn't matter what we were mad at."

Patience was Leo's influence. They used to get frustrated with something if it didn't go their way the first time, evident by the half finished puzzles I was always putting away. A few days after the guys left I found them both sitting on the floor working together on one. And they sat there and did the whole thing, pep talking each other if they couldn't get a piece to fit instead of just getting up and walking away. It took them awhile to get it but they were both thrilled. The smiles on their faces stayed with me for days.

Mandi came by often to check on me, I guess to make sure I wouldn't jump off a bridge or something. She seemed stunned that I was taking it relatively well. I could see it in her eyes that she was stunned I bounced back so quick. She had seen the big mess I was after my ex left me. Finally she just came out and told me. "I expected for you to be a bigger mess."

I looked at her. "I think it helped that I already knew how this was going to turn out before hand. I had time to prepare myself." Then tears did form in my eyes. "That doesn't mean that I don't miss them...him"

"I know, hon." And she gave me a hug.

The next few weeks passed uneventfully besides it slowly getting cooler. I spent one chilly afternoon walking my dads goat pen. I did this for him a lot since he works. These guys were escape artists and I would let him know if I found some spots where they had damaged the fence trying to get out. This day I felt a little on the lonely side and when I finished I found myself wandering to the training area, that now pretty much sat unused. The various training dummies and equipment a constant reminder of the times I spent out here watching them. I sighed and leaned on the pole to the pull up bar they had made. Memories of them moving through my mind, still as vivid as the day I watched them train. Raph training with the weights, Mikey hanging off the pull up bar with his knees lifting his body up, Donnie beating up the practice dummies, Leo, dear Leo, sparring with his brothers. A single tear found it's way down my face.

I walked over towards the house again, my path taking me next to a tarp covered object that sat near my back door. I stopped and laid a hand on it, sighing. Dad had asked me what I wanted to do with the device that took them away from me. I couldn't part with it, not yet, so he and Jim wrapped it up for me in the tarp and placed it near my door. When he had time he would build me a shed to store it in. The man knew how much I missed them I think. Everyone did. I wanted to hold onto as much as I could.

The kids came home then and the rest of the day was spent on the usual homework, supper, bath time shuffle. For awhile I forgot my feelings. I read them their stories and finally got them tucked into their warm beds. Soon they were fast asleep and I once again found myself alone. I spent awhile on my computer, watching some clips of the guys. They meant so much more to me now than they did before. I paused a clip of Leo, the one where April meets him for the first time on the rooftop. I had loved that scene in the movie, I remembered getting goose bumps the first time I saw it. I reached out my hand and touched the screen, tears again forming. "I miss you." I whispered. "I miss you so much." I sat there for a few moments, my hand on the screen and tears running down my face, then I shut everything down and went to bed.

I put on that flimsy blue night dress again, it was now an unspoken favorite of mine. I wear it when I miss him a lot, it usually helps. I laid there for awhile but couldn't fall asleep. Thoughts and memories kept filling my mind, memories of us in this bed. I ached so much from missing Leo. Finally I sat up and reached behind me on the wall for the small frame I had hung there just recently. In that frame, placed on a black sheet of craft paper, was the flower Leo had given me all those weeks ago. I held the frame close to me as I finally drifted off to sleep.

In my dreams was the only place I found peace. They were with me, they always would be. I relived every moment we spent together, every night a different dream. I had so many memories I could relive in my sleep. Usually I would wake up feeling like I had spent time with them and it would make my day go by easier. This night however I dreamed about the night they left. The last time Leo and I had been close to each other, my goodbyes, standing there like an idiot in a raging thunderstorm. I felt myself come half awake, trying to shake that dream. Even in this state of mind I could feel my face was wet from tears. I turned over facing the edge of the bed and drifted off again, the frame still in my arms.

Once again Leo found me in my dreams. The tender kisses, the soft laughter, his body next mine, that last kiss and the words "I love you too." coming from his lips. I dreamt about the way he would kiss my hair, how he would stroke my cheek with his soft fingers. The dream felt so real, like he was right there next me. It felt like he never left. Mumbling under my breath I came half awake again, trying to shake the feeling and get some decent rest. I was slipping back to sleep again when I realized that the feeling of his fingers on my cheek didn't flee with the dream. Half asleep, dreams mixing with reality, I opened my eyes and there were his blue eyes staring back at me. Then I felt his lips on mine, was he...was he really here? Shaking the sleep from me I looked again, Leo was kneeling next to my bed, it couldn't be...

He smiled softly and took the frame out of my arms, that I still had a death grip on, and placed it on my nightstand. Leo then sat on my bed and softly pulled me close to him. It was real, he was really here. I threw my arms around him and he gently held me close to him. I was in his arms, the one place I longed to be but never thought I would be again. I lost myself in the feeling of him. Finally I was able to put thoughts into words. "How...How are you here...please let this be real." I whispered.

"Very real." He replied softly kissing my hair. Then his hand brushed my cheek again. "You've been crying..."

"I missed you so much..." The tears flowing now were ones of happiness of being able to see him again.

"I know. I missed you too."

"How...how did you get here?"

"Donnie. He build a portal device that connects to the machine he made here. There is now a doorway between our worlds. He normally tests these things out first, but he let me go this time. We owe your dad a new tarp by the way."

"You mean..."

He smiled. "We can see each other when ever we want. He told me to tell you sorry it took him so long. I guess it was a complicated thing to build. It took him weeks."

"They didn't come with you?"

"No, not this time. They decided to stay behind tonight. You'll see them tomorrow I'm sure. Tonight it's just me, if that's ok with you..." He said. I just raised my hand and stroked his cheek. He lowered his head and we met in a kiss. After so long without him it felt so unreal to feel him against me again. He laid me back onto the bed and took a moment to strip his gear off, then laid down next to me, once again pulling me close. We kissed again and I shivered as I felt his hand glide down my side. As soft and gentle as I remembered. Slowly he removed my clothes and soon I found myself laying next to him with nothing on, just the feel of his body on my skin. He covered me with soft kisses, starting with my neck and slowly working his way down. He paid extra attention to my breasts, taking the time to nibble on each one for a few moments. I moaned, taking pleasure in the sensations I thought I would never feel from him again. Leo was here, he was here and all was right in my world again.

He had made his way down between my legs and I opened them for him. He brought his head down and started to caress me with his tounge. I closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of him on me in that now very sensitive area, my breathing growing heavier and a need building up inside of me. "Leo..please..." I whispered.

He brought himself back up to me and kissed me again as he took a hand and freed himself from his slit. I could feel that he was already hard...that must have hurt keeping it penned up like that... He positioned himself over me, and looking into my eyes he thrust slowly inside me. The feeling was more wonderful than I remembered it to be. I raised my legs up around him and pulled him as close to me as I could, my soft moans filling his ears and his churrs filling mine. Leo, my dear sweet Leo...

He moved quicker now and my hips matched his pace, our breathing fast and heavy now. Both of us feeling the need for each other we kissed again, our mouths moving at a softer pace. I couldn't hold back any more and I didn't even try. I arched my back into the bed and let my body's pleasure take it's course. "Leo..." I moaned his name as he, churring, came within me.

I laid under him, still breathing heavy, and looked into his eyes. Lord I had missed those eyes... "I love you so much."

He brought his head down and kissed me softly. "I love you. More than you could ever know." Was his whispered reply.

He settled down next to me and pulled me close. It seemed like he had no intention of letting me out of his arms anytime soon, and I wasn't going to complain either. Wrapped securely in his arms, I drifted off to sleep.

***Authors note**

**Aw come on guys! you didn't actually think I would rip them apart did you? Of course I brought them back together! I have lots more adventures planned for them all. ;)**


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning, before the sun was even up, we were woken up by a loud banging on the window. I was so startled I almost fell out of bed, Leo's quick reflexes saving me from an embarressing tumble on the floor. "Is it safe to come in?" I heard Mikey yell.

Leo groaned and I shook my head. "I'm going to kill your brother." I mumbled to him.

"Not if I get him first." He pulled me close. "Good morning." He smiled at me.

"I still can't believe you came back. I thought I'd never see you again."

"I know. We owe Donnie a lot."

The banging sounded again on my window. "C'mon! Didn't you two get enough of that last night?"

"Will you leave them alone?" (smack) "Give them some time you pest." I had to laugh, there was Raph.

Leo just shook his head and sighed. "Come on, we better get up. He's been dying to come see you and the kids for days now. He's been driving Donnie nuts."

We slipped out of bead and got dressed. I went to the window and opened it. "You break my damn window I'm going to use your shell to fix the hole." I grumbled at Mikey. He reached up and grabbed me, pulling me out through the window, ignoring my squeal, and gave me a big bear hug. I thought he was going to crack my ribs.

"Really Mikey?" I heard Leo say from behind me, still in the room. "You had to pull her out the window?"

He grinned and put me down. "I couldn't wait to tell her hi."

"Tell me about it," Raph grumbled. "He's been getting on our nerves all morning. Donnie finally told me to bring him so he could get some work done."

I laughed and gave Mikey another hug. "I missed you too, Mikey." He beamed at me.

Then I walked over to Raph and gave him one. "And, yes you were also missed Raph." He gave me a sheepish grin. "Come on let's go inside. It's chilly out here this morning."

Leo met us at the door and we went inside, Leo slapping Mikey again as he came in. "You goof." He smiled at his little brother. Mikey just winked at him. The youngest then went into the kitchen and started breakfast. I guess he thought he owned it now. I looked at Raph and smiled. "You want to get them up for school?"

"Yeah, I kinda missed the little tykes." He smiled. Then made his way down the hallway. A few moments later we heard excited squeals and yells and we broke out into laughter. Finally we got them settled down, dressed, fed and on the bus.

"So let me look at this doorway of yours." I told them. We went outside and sure enough there was a portal next to the device. I looked into it and I could see Donnie sitting down in a chair at his desk apparently working on something. "Wow..." I was speechless. "This is...amazing.."

Leo chuckled. "Pretty routine for a Ninja Turtle. Go on, go tell him hi."

I was a bit nervous stepping through I admit. Leo took my hand and walked with me into the doorway. There was a slight lurch and I stumbled a bit but Leo steadied me. Then he let my hand go. And just like that I was standing in what looked like Donnie's lab. I slowly walked up to the purple masked turtle. "Hi, Donnie."

He spun in his chair. "Hi, Vicky!" He grinned and got up.

I threw my arms around him. "Thank you..." I started crying into his chest. "Thank you so very much."

I felt him wrap his arms around me returning my hug. "Your very welcome." He replied. "I couldn't just let you two end like that. I know Leo was heartbroken, even if he was to stubborn to admit it. I figured you were in similar shape. I couldn't stand that." He pulled back and smiled down at me. "I love you both to much to let it stay that way. Besides, I missed you and the kids too."

Mikey came bounding through the portal, followed shortly after by Raph. "C'mon! I'll show you around!" He practically pulled me out of the lab. I could hear Leo sigh at his little brother's antics. "He never grows up."

"Didn't expect him too, did ya?" Came from Raph.

"No but I keep hoping..."

Mikey had to show me everything, and I mean everything. Right up until we got to Raph's room. "Mikey, don't you dare take her in there!" He bellowed. I had to laugh at that. We bypassed Raph's room and stopped in front of another door. "This is Leo's-" Suddenly he was pushed away. "I can show her my own room, thank you very much." Leo told his brother.

"Spoilsport." Mikey mumbled, then he winked and walked off.

Leo pushed his door open. "Well here it is, my humble abode."

I stepped in not really sure what to expect. It was a simple room and very neat. I smiled as I remembered a scene from the movie. 'Who wants to clean the dojo? I'll clean the dojo!' His room was very simple, but welcoming in a way. "It suits you." I told him. "I like it."

We walked back to the living area and I noticed there was one door I haven't been through yet. Mikey had kind of passed it by even though he had shown me everything else. Leo caught my look. "Master Splinter's room." He said quietly. He walked me over to it and opened the door for me. I could feel the others watching me quietly as I went in.

The room was as simple as Leo's and it seemed untouched but clean. Apparently they took good care of the room. Soon I noticed why. On a low table against the far wall was an urn. I Looked up at Leo and he nodded, his eyes unreadable. I slowly walked up to it and knelt down on my knees next to it. I had always wanted to meet him. I would never get that chance but at least I could pay my respects to him. I reached out my hand but stopped, not sure if it would be ok. "Go ahead." Leo said softly from the doorway. I placed my hand on the urn and closed my eyes. Sending the master my thoughts of respect and love. Yes I did love him even though I never had the chance to meet him. He had loved his sons and that love shaped them into the beings I care so deeply for now. Finally I sent him my thanks for being such a caring father to them. I felt something flow over me, as if I could feel his love in return. I caught my breath as the feeling overcame me. Then it disappeared and I slowly removed my hand. I sat there for a few moments then stood up, I slowly made my way out of the room. By now the other three were standing around Leo, watching me. "Are you ok?" Leo asked me.

I nodded quietly. "I could, for a moment, feel him. He loves you very much."

They looked at me me stunned. "What?" I asked them, a bit nervous now.

Then they broke out into grins. "Well it's official." Donnie said and winked. "Welcome to the family."

I looked at them, totally confused now. "I don't understand."

Leo took my hands in his. "His spirit never really left. On rare occasions, very rare, he makes his presence known."

"And when he does it's usually very important to him." Raph added. "For you to feel him means that he has fully accepted you as one of us."

"But he doesn't even know me." I said.

"Yes, as a matter of fact he does." Leo said quietly. I looked at him. "I meditated in here the first night we got back and he was with me that night. I shared my memories of you with him."

"All of them?" I asked blushing. I really didn't think some of those memories he would have liked.

He laughed. "Not those." The others chuckled.

I knew I should have been freaked out about the thought of a wandering spirit, but oddly I wasn't. The one thing you learn real quick with them is to expect the unexpected. But hey it sure was fun being with them.

I really didn't want to leave yet, but I had work to do at home. Staying here all day wouldn't pay the bills. "Guys I have to get back. I do have work I need to do."

"Sure thing." Mikey said "You can come visit anytime you want now."

I looked at Donnie. "I think finding a way to hide the portal might be a good idea. It would be hard to explain if someone sees it who isn't supposed to."

He nodded. "I was thinking the same thing myself. I'll work on it and let you know what I come up with." There was an alarm going off in his lab and he went to go check. The rest of us followed. Donnie was looking over his moniters. "Leo we got trouble. Foot clan trouble."

"Where?"

"Upper east side."

"Gear up." He told the others. "Donnie get the van ready. Mikey call April and see what she knows." I looked on, now feeling a bit scared. This I never had to experience for myself. I'm not saying I didn't know that they kick Foot butt all over New York, just that with their time with me they never really had a chance to do what they usually do. Now that they were home I had to deal with the fact that they place themselves in danger on a regular basis. Seeing it on TV and movies and experiencing it in real life were two different things. This was real, not make believe. Leo turned to me and caught my look. He didn't even try to tell me not to worry, he knew I would anyway. "As soon as we get back I'll let you know, ok?"

"Be careful."

He gave me a quick hug. "I will." Then he was out the door after his brothers.

I sighed and made my way through the portal. I buried myself in my work and pushed all though of them being out away from my mind. I managed to meet all the deadlines I had for that day a few hours later and shut the computer down. Rubbing my eyes I stood up and streached. I had more work than usual today and I was glad to be done. I frowned as I looked at the clock. It had been over five hours now and still nothing. I tried not to let it worry me. I had no idea how long they stayed out in situations like this. I decided to read for awhile so I wouldn't brood on it. I would have to get used to this but I accepted it. It was part of who they are. I still couldn't help that feeling start to creep in as the minutes ticked by.

Finally the back door opened and Leo walked in. He had a bandage on his arm. "Are you alright?" I asked him getting up.

"I'm fine. I've had worse."

"The guys?"

"A few scratches and bruises but ok." We sat down on the couch and I snuggled up next to him.

I had been debating this all day with myself. If I was going to be with him I needed to know what he was up against. I would drive myself nuts with worry if I didn't. "Leo, what exactly is going on over there right now. I need to know."

He sighed. "Well, we got the Foot clan to worry about. They are still our main concern. Then you have the occasional Baxter Stockman, Bishop" I shuddered at that name. Bishop was a monster. "and Sachs industries to mention a few."

"Busy life." I said. then I got quiet, lost in thought.

"What's wrong?"

"I wouldn't say 'wrong' Leo. I just have to adjust my thinking a bit is all. I never really had to face this before."

"Does it bother you?"

"Yes and no. I'm not going to lie, I will worry but I also understand it's what you guys do."

He looked at me. "Can you accept that?"

"Yes, I can and will. I'm not going to ask you to stop doing what you do just so I won't worry. It wouldn't be right. I just wanted to know what you are facing right now is all. There are some differences in what I've seen and what you actually go though. I need to adjust my thinking to that."

"You are one amazing woman, you know that? Anyone else would run screaming for the hills."

"Only if they didn't know you like I, and a lot of others in my world, do. We here fully understand it's what you do on a regular basis."

Mikey came in the door. "Done with your work?" He asked me.

"For today."

"Cool. I was thinking."

"Uh oh." Leo muttered. I elbowed him.

"About what Mikey?"

"You guys want to eat at our place tonight? We kinda dented your fridge supplies while we were here. I figured I could make it up to you."

"Mikey I replaced all that weeks ago." I laughed.

"So? I still want to make it up to you."

"Alright, we will come over for dinner."

His grin was like the sun coming up. "I'll go get it started!" He practically ran back out the door.

Smiling I shook my head. "He's a nut."

"Your just now noticing that?"

"Be nice."

Leo laughed, then leaned over and kissed my cheek. "I've got a few things I need to take care of and I need to talk to Donnie. Come on over when you are ready."

"We will."

He got up and left the room.

Shortly after that the kids came home, no homework today apparently. So I got them out of their school clothes and we went to go visit the guys. Leo and Donnie were talking when we arrived. "Donnie!" Chimed two little voices. I smiled as I remembered they didn't get to see him this morning.

"Hey guys!" He smiled at them as they gave him a hug. "Why don't you go out that door and make a left. Mikey is over there in the kitchen. I'll come talk to you in a little bit ok?"

"Okey-dokey" Amy replied. and they left the room.

Leo picked up the conversation where it had been interrupted. "Your sure Donnie?"

"Everything seems to be pointing that way."

"Any idea on who it might be?"

"I could make a few guesses, not enough information to know for sure."

Leo sighed. "Great. See if you can figure it out." Leo's eyes narrowed. "If they do have a new Shredder I want to know everything about him."

Donnie nodded. "I'll see what I can scrape up."

Ooooh boy. I think I walked into the wrong conversation. I felt my heart drop. That was a name not to be taken lightly, and I knew it. Things were about to get interesting. "Someone want to fill me in?" I asked them.

Donnie sighed. "The Foot has been pretty much nothing more than a gang the last few years. We took out Shredder and they pretty much resorted to petty crime. Their activities lately have been more, shall we say, like their old selves."

"Not to mention some of them dropped a few hints today." Leo added.

Donnie nodded. "It just makes sense that there is someone pulling the strings again. And with the Foot that someone is usually Shredder. Or a Shredder I should say."

"Pass this information on to April. Tell her not to go snooping but if she hears anything to let us know." Leo told his brother.

"I will when she gets off of work."

"Alright."

"MIKEY!" Came Raph's shout from the other room. "I'm going to hurt you!"

"Now what?" Leo sighed. We went to go investigate.

We walked out of the lab just as Mikey flew past us with Raph right behind. Was that a sai in Mikey's hand? And why in the hell was there a chicken impaled on it?

Leo just dropped his head in his hand. Donnie just turned back towards his lab. "I'm calling out for pizza."

"Might not be a bad idea." I agreed as we watched Raph tackle Mikey, and the chicken went flying across the room. "I don't think supper is going to be done for awhile..."


	10. Chapter 10

The next few days went by for the most part uneventful. Mikey insisted we hang out in the lair that weekend. So Friday evening we trooped through the portal with blankets and sheets for the kids. That left me with a free closet since I figured that if this was going to be a regular thing those items could just stay here. That had given me an idea.

We came stumbling through the portal and Donnie happened to catch me as I tripped over a blanket corner that had slipped down. "You would think you guys were moving in." He laughed.

"You would think." I sighed. "They wanted all this crap."

"C'mon. I'll help you. Give me some of that." He took some of my load, and now I could at least see where I was going. We began walking to where Mikey had set up some air mattresses in the living area. "Donnie, do you have room to store this stuff here somewhere?"

"Actually yes. Why?"

"If you could do that, then that leaves me with an empty closet. We could rip the shelves out, expand it and put a wider door on it."

"And shove the portal in there?"

"Exactly."

"I'll go look at it first thing in the morning and see."

Mikey came out from the kitchen. "Hey guys."

"Hi Mikey!" Dennis said. Amy just ran and gave him a hug.

Mikey walked over to me. "Here give me that. I'll help them get set up." He took my load from me. The he and the kids spent the next few minutes setting up a sleeping area for them.

Leo and Raph came walking into the lair. They hadn't been home when I arrived. Leo told me earlier in the day that he would be gone most of the afternoon. He now had a slightly frustrated look on his face.

Donnie looked at him. "Did you find anything out?"

"Not a damn thing. April can't dig anything up either. This isn't going to be easy."

"It never is dealing with you-know-who." Donnie said. We had all decided not to say anything in front of the kids about this. I don't think a real life Shredder would help them sleep at night.

"I know. Doesn't mean I have to like it though. April is going to come by here soon. She had some work to finish up." Leo looked at me and smiled. "She wants to meet you."

"And I want to meet her." I replied. I hadn't had the chance to yet. Her being a news reporter she's been busy lately from what the guys tell me. On the same thing that had the guys on their toes right now, the Foot clan.

I didn't have to wait long, about an hour later she showed up. She was a bit shorter than me, which surprised me a little. I had alawys pictured her to be taller. But with me being 5'9 I guess a lot of folks we shorter than me. She smiled and took my hand in hers. "You must be Vicky. I'm April. The guys have told me a lot about you."

I smiled back. "Nothing bad I hope."

She winked. "Not yet."

"That may change." I grinned at her. She laughed.

"I think I'm going to like you." She told me. I already liked her. "Now where are your kids that I have heard so much about?"

I pointed over the the moving mountain of sheets and blankets, there was a lot of giggling coming from under it and not all of it little voices. "Over there with Mikey."

"I'll be back in a minute. I want to tell them hi."

"All right April. We will be in the kitchen." Leo told her.

April joined us a few minutes later. "I don't know who is worse, Mikey or the kids." She laughed. "They got some kind of tickle wresting match going on over there." She sat down at the table.

"Mikey." We all chimed.

April looked at Leo. "I've been able to dig something up. It's not much though."

"Oh?"

"Thee are rumors going around that the Foot owns a night club downtown."

"A nightclub? That's a first." Donnie said.

"It kind of makes sense. There are always wierdos floating around in night clubs. Makes it easy to do buisness if you can hide in the general wierdoness." April told him.

Leo was looking at her. Then he narrowed his eyes. "Your wanting to scope it out aren't you?"

"Guilty as charged."

"April, it's not safe for you to go in there alone. Casey and Vern are both out of town." Leo told her.

"I wasn't planning on going alone." She looked at me. "Want to see see some of New York?" Wait what? How did I get pulled into this?

"April! You can't be serious!" Raph said "She has no idea what they can do if it is a Foot hideout."

"I can't wait for them to come back. Casey will be gone for another month and you can't go in with me. I have no idea when Vern will be back from his assignment overseas. All she has to do is keep an eye on me and let you know if there is trouble."

Donnie sighed. "I don't like it, but she does have a point. We can't let her go alone and we do need to find out what's going on."

"We are going to shadow them right?" Raph asked.

"Well duh... I said I agree with her her reasoning. I never said we abandon them. They go in and we wait outside in case there is trouble."

Leo had sat quietly, taking it all in. There seemed to be an internal struggle going on inside of him. Finally he took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. "Alright April, but only if she wants to go. I'm not going to ask her to do this." Then I knew what was bothering him. April had been in these situations before and could handle herself relatively well but there were still times she got into trouble. Leo thought of her as a sister, but he stilled worried about her. There was something more between him and I however and I don't think he really wanted me out there like that. For him to give his blessing on the whole idea spoke volumes to me about what he had just fought within himself.

Now it was their turn to watch me as I struggled with my own thoughts. Could I do this? Did I even want to do this? I looked at the bigger picture. They were a part of my family now and this part faced things that could get them hurt. They also depended on one another, this was a single machine that worked to keep all safe. They had invited me into that working unit. They fully accepted me as part of the family and would allow me to play an important part. They needed information to face this newest threat and needed help getting it. And there was that little kid inside me that was clapping and jumping up and down with glee to actually get that chance to do something like this. I looked around the table at the faces watching me. "I'll do it."

Leo closed his eyes a moment and sighed. I knew his burden just got a lot more complicated. He quickly composed himself however. "We go tonight then."

I looked down at my T-shirt and sweatpants. "I'm not going like this. I need to go change. And I guess I better round up a babysitter." I got up "I'll be back in a little bit."

"I'll go with you." Leo said. He looked at Raph and Donnie. "One of you pull Mikey away from the kids and let him know what's going on."

I walked quietly next to Leo as we made our way to my room. Why did I have the feeling I was going to get yelled at...

Finally, as I was pulling clothes out of my closet, he spoke up. "You don't have to do this."

"I know. I want to though."

"Why?"

I sighed as I laid the clothes on the bed. "Because I care about you all, I want to do my part to help." I went looking for some shoes. I had just picked up a pair of sneakers when I felt him grab my arm and pull me around to face him. Startled I dropped the shoes.

"I don't know if I can let you do this." He told me softly. "I'm not strong enough..."

"Leo, you have faced so many things with your brothers by your side. How many times has April and Casey helped you. Why am I so different?"

"I don't want to loose you, or see you get hurt."

"But it's ok for the rest of your family? Am I not a part of it?"

"Of course you are."

"Then I will help my family. Leo I know what you are feeling but please don't risk the safety of everyone by not letting me help. You can lead your brothers and friends without feelings getting in the way, don't deny me the same. I can do this. I want to do this. Leo please..."

He looked at me a moment, then pulled me into a hug. "Alright. But you will be given a phone and a tracking device. And for god's sake be careful."

"I will. Now would you mind going to get Jim? Try and sneak him out if you can. Mom don't need to know about this."

He nodded and left and I got dressed. I was doing the whole makeup/hair thing when Leo came back with my brother. I finished up and went to meet up with them. "Leo tell you what's going on?" I asked my brother.

"Yeah. Are you sure about this?"

"Positive. I would do the same if it were you. Or even Mandi and Leon."

"Just be careful, I don't want to have to explain this to Mom and Dad if something goes wrong." He looked at Leo. "Please watch over her. She's a pain in the ass sometimes but she's my sister and I love her."

"You have my word on it Jim. I have my own reasons to keep an eye on her."

"I know you do. I'm surprised your letting her do this."

"She bullied me into it."

I stuck my tounge out at them. "You ok to watch the kids for us?"

Jim nodded.

"Then I guess that's everything. Let's go." Leo said.

We made our way back to the lair and the others were ready to go. "The kids are sleeping" Mikey told me. "Come on, Jim. I'll show everything you need to know real quick in case the kids need something."

"Donnie, hook Vicky up. I'm not letting her in there without any way to track her." Leo told his brother. He looked at April. "You have yours on you right?"

"Always."

Donnie came back with a phone and a small device. I tucked the phone in my pants pocket and shoved the tracker into my bra. April laughed. "That's where I keep mine too."

"Seems like a good hiding spot." I grinned at her.

Donnie just shook his head. "Women." He mumbled.

Mikey came back. "Ready when you guys are."

"Let's go." Leo said.

We all piled into the van and I took the time to learn the phone while we made our way across town. Raph was sitting next to me showing me how it worked. By the time Donnie pulled over about two blocks away from the club I felt I could use it if I needed it and slipped it back in my pocket. April looked at me. "Ready?"

"Yeah."

We got out of the van. Leo rolled his window down. "Be careful you two."

"We will. Now scoot." April told him. We began walking to the club. "Nervous?" She asked me.

"A little."

"Normally I wouldn't ask you to do this. I just have a bad feeling something is going on soon. I've learned not to go into these situations alone."

"It's ok, April. I just had to convince Leo to let me do this."

"He cares about you very much. I could see that right away when they got back. He just wasn't the same."

"He didn't go nuts did he?"

"No." She laughed "There just was a sadness to him. I knew something had happened to him while he was gone, something that he missed very much. Raph told me about you two later."

"The feeling was mutual. The thought of never seeing him again brought me to tears for days."

"And you just get him back and then I drag you into this mess..."

"It's ok. Really, it is. It comes with the turf in this particular family. I knew what I was getting into."

We had arrived at the club, it was a three story building sitting on a street corner the sound of music pouring out of the doors. "This is going to be a noisy night." I sighed.

She laughed. "I brought Asprin. Come on, let's see what we can sniff out." And we made our way into the building. The inside was pretty much like every other night club, busy and loud.

"Now what?" I asked her over the noise.

"We split up. You wait over there by the the bar, on the far side over there. There are some private rooms back there. I'll circle around and see what I can find out. I don't think we should stick together, if something goes wrong they won't know we are here for the same reason. If does go bad, I'll signal you."

I nodded and we split up. I made my way to the bar and took a seat ordering a drink. I watched as April made her way around the club for about fifteen, twenty minutes. Then a large guy came stumbling over and sat down next to me. "Hiya Sweetcheeks." Oh lord... "You new here?" I really didn't want to deal with this.

"I really don't see where that is any of your buisness." I told him. Still watching April.

"Oh ho! You got a mouth on you."

"Just leave me alone." I frowned. There were a few guys gathered around April.

"Why don't you come hang with me tonight. I'll take that stick outta your ass and put one somewhere else." Seriously? Why on earth would he think I would even want to do that? Drunken idiot.

"I'm taken already." This didn't look good. I think April got found out. They were herding her towards the back rooms, heading my way. No this was not good.

"Damn right you are, your mine tonight." He grabbed my arm.

I finally looked at him. An icy calm came over me. "Get your hand off of me. Now." I met Aprils's gaze over this buffoon's head. She mouthed the word 'Help.' Damn it.

"Or what you going to do?" He said tightening his grip. I sighed. But maybe if I timed this right... I waited until the group was closer. Then as they were about to pass us I launched my palm out and locked my wrist. I hit the moron in the nose and he fell backwards out of his stool, right into the group surrounding April. She used the confusion to break free as I jumped out of my stool. She grabbed my wrist and pulled me down the hallway they were trying to take her. We tried the emergency door but it wasn't opening. "Damn it." She swore.

I looked to the left. There was another way out of here. "April, stairwell." I pulled her towards the door. This time it opened and we slipped through. The only way was up. April pulled her phone out as we ran up the stairs. The sound of the men following us. I looked down, there were more of them. "Shit." I whispered. "We got company!"

April was on the phone now. "We could use a little help here!" I herd her yell into it, then hung it up and tucked it away. We burst onto the roof and looked for a split second on where to go now. We spotted the fire escape at the same time and ran for it, we didn't make it halfway before we were both tackled to the rooftop. "You bitches aren't going anywhere." said the man holding me down.

"You want bitch? I'll show you bitch." I growled at him and I brought my elbow back, nailing him in the throat. I felt him roll off of me gasping for air. I had enough time to roll over before another guy took his place. I kneed this one in the groin and he also fell over but by this time there were others holding me down as well. April was in a similar predicament, but I did notice one her her attackers had a split lip.

Suddenly there was another form standing over me. The Leo I knew was gone, but this new version didn't scare me one bit. He stood tall over me, a quiet calm confidence surrounding him. I wasn't looking at Leo my lover, I was looking at Leo the leader and fighter. I made sure I stayed down as he lashed out over me with the speed I remember from watching him train, now seeing him use that training. A kick sent one man flying and he spun quickly and brought his fist around to another knocking him senseless. A third tried to come up from behind him but I kicked his legs out from under him. "Bitch you are going to pay for that." He snarled at me.

"I don't think so." Came Leo's reply and he picked the man up and threw him into yet another. "Are you alright?" He helped me up.

"I'm fine." I looked around. Mikey was helping April up and Raph and Donnie were finishing up with the last few.

"Let's get out of here." Leo told them and we all moved swiftly to the fire escape and ran towards the van in the alley.

Once we were inside and driving away I burst into laughter. "That was fun!"

"Isn't it?" Raph grinned.

"Are you two sure your alright?" Leo asked.

"We are fine, Leo" April told him.

"What happened?"

"I got some answers for one. But unfortunately I was also recognized. One of the draw backs of being a news reporter I guess." She looked at me. "Vicky, you can be my wing girl anytime. You guys better watch her. She's quick on her toes."

"She's not to shabby in a fight either." Raph chuckled.

"You should have seen what she did to the guy at the bar. I think she broke the his nose."

They all looked at me, even Donnie who was driving shot me a glance in the rear view mirror. I blushed a little. "He wouldn't let me go."

"But your timing was perfect." April laughed. She quickly told them what happened.

"Geez, Vic. Give you some training and we can just sit back and let you do all the work." Mikey grinned.

"Anyway," April said "from what I could gather the place is infested with Foot on the upper levels. It definitely is a hideout for them. But just that, a hideout. And there is a new leader. If it is another Shredder or not no one knows."

"Were you able to get the headquarters location?" Leo asked her.

"No."

Something crossed my mind. "April, you said they figured out who you are, right?"

She nodded. "What are the chances of them finding out where you live?" I asked.

Her eyes got wide. "Shit!"

Leo also looked concerned. "Your staying with us for awhile." He told her.

"I'm not going to argue with that." She replied.

"Guys listen," I spoke up "if they do send someone after her, wouldn't that be the perfect chance to get some more info?"

Mikey grinned again. "We ambush the ambush."

Donnie chuckled. "She is quick on her toes, isn't she?"

Leo nodded. "That she is. Alright, we go to April's. Let's go shake up some Foot and see what falls out."

I couldn't help but feel excitement at the nights events. "You know, this is kind of fun. I need to do this more often." The van was filled with laughter as we drove through the night time streets.


	11. Chapter 11

April and I were in her apartment gathering some things for her since she wouldn't stay her for awhile. We figured now was the safest time to grab her stuff while we had the guys with us, even if we couldn't see them. We made sure to make lots of noise and had lights on to let then know that there was indeed someone home if they came here looking for her. "Is it always like this?" I asked her.

"That feeling like something is about to go off?"

"Yeah. I'm all wound up right now. The waiting is killing me." My first time being used as bait...whoda thought...

I was in her bathroom grabbing her toiletries while she stuffed clothes in a bag. She had already packed her laptop. We were trying to hurry because we didn't know how much time we had. I came out of the bathroom and tossed the cosmetic bag to her. She had just put it in her bag when we heard a noise in the living room. I quickly hid behind the bedroom door. Was it the guys or was it someone else? April's sudden dive behind her bed told me real quick who it was. Someone was coming into the room. When they got even with the bedroom door frame, I raised my leg and kicked the door as hard as I could. Literlally slamming the door in the man's face. I heard a cry of pain as I quickly locked the door. It wouldn't hold them back long, but long enough.

April chuckled. "You are a mean one, aren't you?"

I grinned at her, ignoring the sounds of them trying to kick the door in. A moment later those sounds were replaced by thuds and grunts, then by a soft knock on the door. "Come on out you two." We heard Donnie say. April grabbed her bag and we came out of the bedroom. There were six guys knocked out in the living room and for large turtles. I couldn't help the chuckle as I looked around.

"I'm impressed guys, you didn't break any of my stuff." April smiled.

"We didn't want you mad at us." Mikey grinned.

"Mikey, Donnie you two take them to the van." Leo said. "Raph and I will have a little talk with one of these guys. We'll clean the trash out for you too, April."

April laughed and Leo winked at her. We left the apartment as Leo and Raph picked a victim. When we got in the van April pulled out her Laptop and handed it to Donnie. "Wanna make sure they can't track my computer for me?"

"My pleasure." He said as he took it from her. As he trace proofed her computer we heard screams coming from the roof top. I poked my head out the window and had to chuckle as I saw a form dangling in the air, held up only by Raph's strong hand. I brought my head back in the van and chuckled.

"Let me guess, the dangle the guy over the roof top routine?" Donnie said not even looking up.

"Yup."

"Works every time." Mikey said looking out the window himself. Then he pulled back in quickly. "Get down!" He whispered, pulling April down as Donnie and I ducked.

"What?" Donnie asked his brother.

"There are more of them. They are storming the building."

Leo... Suddenly this wasn't fun anymore. "What do we do?"

"Wait, for now." Donnie said quietly. "Leo would kill us if we left you here by yourselves."

"He'll be ok, Vicky." Mikey added. "They both will." He had a worried look on his face though as he kept watch out the window. I wasn't sure if he was trying to comfort me, or himself at that point.

There was a loud crash as something fell onto the dumpster next to us followed by Raph's shout from the rooftop. "Leo!"

"Shit!" Mikey spat and shot out of the van.

"April! You drive!" Donnie snapped as he too rushed out. I looked out and realized that the form that had hit the dumpster was Leo, and he wasn't moving. I noticed movement above us and looked up to see Raph skimming down the fire escape, the roof above him filled with Foot who were also on their way down. Mikey and Donnie were trying to get Leo off of the now badly deformed dumpster when Raph landed next to his older brother and lifted him towards them. Together they got him off of it and into the van.

"Punch it!" Raph told April and she didn't need to be told twice. She slammed on the gas as the first few Foot were hitting the ground around the van.

"What happened?" Donnie asked as he looked over Leo.

"Shredder happened." Raph hissed. "Damn it!" He punched the floor of the van.

"Knock it off, Raph." Came a weak voice from the floor. Leo!

"Don't move." Donnie told him as he scanned his brother. "No broken bones. Your going to be sore as hell later though. And it looks like you have a concussion."

"Might explain the head ache..." He sat up slowly placing his hand on his head. "Make sure we're not being followed." Raph nodded and went to the back of the van to watch behind them.

I took Raph's place next to Leo. "You ok?"

"Head hurts." He said softly. "And I'm dizzy." He closed his eyes.

"Doesn't look like we are being followed, Leo" Raph said.

Leo opened his eyes and frowned at that. That thought bugged me also, there had been plenty of Foot there, why were we not being followed? "Donnie..."

"Already on it, Leo. April pull into the next ally you can find."

"Alright."

Shortly after she pulled into one and Raph and Mikey kept watch while Donnie scanned the van. I heard him playing around on the roof. "Bingo..." He jumped down.

"What?' Mikey asked.

"Tracking device." Donnie held out his hand to show us the little tracker.

"Damn it..." Leo whispered. "They set us up."

"I'm thinking so, too." Donnie said.

"And we fell for it." Raph said. "The whole thing was a waste."

"Maybe not." Donnie said quietly. He quickly did something to the device, "I shut it down."

"Why not just break it?" Mikey asked

"Because when we get back to the lair I'm going to reverse the signal so we can track the source."

"Leading us to them." Leo said.

"Two can play at this game." Donnie said. "But first I say we go home."

"Agreed." Leo said. Then he leaned his head on the van wall. "God my head hurts."

Donnie looked at him. "Don't fall asleep. Not yet. Let me get you home where I can keep an eye on you."

Leo nodded. "Let's go home."

They got back in and this time Donnie drove. When we got back Raph and Mikey steadied Leo as he walked into Donnie's lab. He was unsteady on his feet. Hell I was surprised that he was walking at all. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned. "He'll be ok. He heals fast. Come on, my bed in the lab is big enough for both of you I think."

"Thank you, Donnie."

"No problem."

"Everything ok?" Jim asked as he walked up to us.

"Yeah, Leo just took a tumble." Donnie told him "He will be fine in a couple days."

"Go home, Jim." I told him. "Go to bed. And thank you."

"Anytime."

We walked into the lab and Jim said his goodnights and stepped through the portal. Mikey yawned. "I think I better go lay down before the kids wake up. We are supposed to be having a sleepover. That and I need to get April settled in."

"Go ahead." Donnie told him. "You get some rest too, Raph." Raph nodded and said goodnight on his way out the door.

Donnie then turned his attention to Leo who was sitting on the lab bed. The guys had already helped him get his gear off and it was laid neatly on the floor next to the lab bed. "Your sleeping in here tonight. I'll go get you some blankets."

Leo just sighed and laid down. I walked over to him. "Scoot. I'm sleeping here with you."

He smiled. "You don't have to."

"I know I don't have to. I want to. Now scoot over."

I snuggled up next to him and Donnie came in with a blanket. He looked his brother over and when he was satisfied there wasn't any major damage he covered us up, then went to his desk to play with the tracker. Leo was soon fast asleep. I on the other hand couldn't sleep, I had come so close to loosing him tonight. The sight of him crashing into the dumpster like that haunted me. I just laid there staring in space.

"What's wrong?" Donnie asked me quietly. He had come over to check on Leo and had noticed I was awake.

"Honestly, Donnie, that scared me to death."

"Trust me, your not the only one whose heart stopped. I have to say you took it well out there. If you had been screaming and freaking out it would have made it a lot harder."

"I've been trained to not freak out in the moment. Plenty of time to go into hysterics afterwards."

"Same place you learned to break noses?" He asked with a smile.

I blushed "Yeah. I had a good leader when I was in the army. There was a lot he taught me. Self defense, emotion control, stuff like that. He wanted us to learn more than just the useless crap you forget three days later they teach in basic training. I actually kind of miss him. We lost touch after he moved to another duty station. I guess I owe him more than I realized at the time."

"If he only knew what you were doing with that training now..." Donnie chuckled quietly. Then he looked at me, his inspection of Leo done. "You and Leo are a better match for each other than I had at first thought. You are so much alike. He usually falls to pieces too afterwards if something happens, but in the moment he keeps his cool. I think that mix of control and caring is what makes him a good leader. Well, one of many reasons."

"That was a fascinating conversation, but how am I supposed to sleep with you two babbling like that?" Leo opened his eyes.

Donnie grinned, still looking at me. "And there is his ability to know everything that goes on around him. That comes in handy too."

I laughed softly as Donnie went back to his desk. Leo tightened his grip on me. "Stop worrying about it." He whispered to me. "And tomorrow I'd like to hear more of your time in the military, you didn't go into much detail before. There might be something there that we can use to better your skills if your going to insist on doing this with us."

"Are you trying to turn me into a ninja?"

"No, just better your skills. You have very good basics, I want to expand on that."

"For someone who was just complaining about being woken up, you sure are making a lot of noise." Donnie said from the desk, not even looking up.

"Buuuusteeed." I said softly.

Leo just sighed. "He's worse than a mother hen sometimes." He mumbled.

"I remember a time when I got sick. I do believe, if I remember right, you were just as bad."

He smiled. "Ok you win that one." He kissed my hair. "Now quit worrying about what happened tonight and get some sleep. I'll be fine."

I settled back down and this time I drifted off.

For once I woke up before Leo did, usually he was already awake and up by the time my morning hating eyes open. Because his arms were wrapped around me I just laid there to keep from waking him up. Donnie was still up, I could here him muttering at his desk. Did he get any sleep last night? I took this quiet moment to look at my lover. It's not often I get the chance to see him sleep, his face face was filled with a calm peace.

Donnie came over and once more checked on his brother. He noticed I was awake. "He should be alright now and past any danger." He whispered to me. "He just needs rest." I just nodded slightly. I laid there for awhile, just taking comfort that he was here and ok. He slowly started to move and I could tell he was starting to wake up. He groaned softly as he moved. Donnie came back to the bed, holding some pain pills and a cup of water in his hand. "He's probably really sore today. He's covered in bruises." Leo groaned softly again and his eyed opened. "Here take these." Donnie handed him the pills and Leo sat up and took them followed by the water. I got up myself. "Give them time to work. Your on bed rest today by the way." Leo nodded slightly and laid back down.

"You going to be ok for a little bit?" I asked him. He smiled and nodded again. "Good, because I really have to pee." I ran out of the lab. Leo and Donnie's chuckles following me out.


	12. Chapter 12

Leo slept most of that day. It kind of worried me but Donnie assured me it was normal for them. "If he didn't sleep then I'd be worried." He said. I just had to take his word for it. It was getting real late when I brought him some supper and a cup of coffee, he hadn't come out of the lab all day and I figured he would be hungry. I quietly placed the plate and cup on his desk as he worked. He was typing on his computer and it looked like he had some kind of map pulled up. "I brought you something to eat." I told him quietly, not wanting to wake Leo. He just nodded his thanks, not looking away from the screen. "What are you working on?"

"I'm trying to pinpoint where the receiver is for that tracking device."

"Any luck?"

"I got the general area, trying to close in on it better."

Something had been bothering me most of the day. I figured now would be a good time to talk to him about it. The kids were already sleeping so I had a few minutes. "Donnie, can I ask you something?"

"Of course." He leaned back into his chair and looked at me.

"I don't know, maybe I'm imagining things, but last night seemed like a very elaborate set up."

"How so?"

"Think about it. They lure April in with 'leaked' night club info and she almost immediately gets caught. Almost like they were waiting for her."

"Go on."

"Well, then there was the ring around the ambushes last night. Then the tracking device on the van, that couldn't have gotten on it with us there. You would have noticed someone getting that close, right?"

"I'm pretty sure I or one of the others would have, yes."

"So either at the club, or at April's someone bugged the van while you were all away from it."

"I think I see where you are going with this." He said.

"Donnie someone is laying traps for you, someone who knows you very well and how you will respond."

His eyes got wide. "Shit! Why didn't I think of that!" He quickly turned to his computer and killed the trace on the signal. "If that had connected with the receiver and had they been waiting for me to do that..." He shook his head. "I think we owe you a big one."

"Well that leaves us with the question on who it is." Came a tired voice from the bed. I turned to look. Leo was trying to sit up. Donnie went over to help him. He looked so tired still.

"I can name a few right off the bat." Donnie said.

"So can I." Leo said. "But how do we find out without them expecting our every move?"

Donnie thought a minute. "By relocating. I move my trace efforts to a different area. One very far from the lair."

"But if that trace connects with the receiver won't they know your coming?" I asked.

"It does have 'trap' written all over it." Leo said. "Either way we go it is one. We trace it here they come here. We trace it somewhere else they wait for us. And probably know that we know it's a trap."

"Well that's defining the problem, now what's the solution?" Donnie asked.

"We do something no one knows about but us. Something they can't plan for."

"And what would that be?"

"I have no idea." Leo admitted. "And we just can't hide here, sooner or later they will do something drastic to draw us out, but if we go out sooner or later we are going to get caught. Right now it's a no win situation. Our back is against the wall."

Donnie sighed. "Wouldn't it be nice we had clones?"

"Not really." Leo replied "Who says the clones would be exactly like us?"

"I was joking, Leo." Donnie laughed.

Suddenly I had the craziest idea. Months ago I wouldn't have even considered something like this. "Donnie...Do you have a working VCR?"

He looked at me. "Yes. Why?"

"Get one set up in here please. I'll be back in a little bit."

I ran through the portal and into the house. I opened the cabinet where I kept my movies. I had a large collection of old VCR movies that I had collected in my lifetime. I couldn't watch them anymore, I didn't have a working VCR, but I held onto them for sentimental reasons. I found the tape I was looking for after a few minutes of searching. I grabbed it and went back to the lair. Donnie had a VCR set up by the time I got back. I put the tape in and he hit play. We watched for a few minutes. When I showed them the clips on the computer when I first met them, what now seemed like ages ago, I had kind of skipped over these guys, they were having a hard enough time dealing with the cartoons I recall, so this one was all new to them.

"You have got to be shitting me..." Donnie finally whispered.

Leo looked just as stunned. "What in the hell?"

"Well they aren't exactly clones, but the 90's turtles can hold their own in a fight." I told them grinning. "This might be the unexpected edge you need. If you can figure out how to get to them."

Donnie looked at me. "Think about it, Donnie." I told him. "To me your current forms was at first only something I had seen in a movie, yet you are real. What if the same is true for them?" I pointed at the screen. "What if there was a way to reach them?"

Leo and Donnie looked at each other. "I can't believe I'm actually considering this..." Leo muttered.

"I can't believe I'm actually trying to figure out a way to reach them." Donnie answered.

"Remember though guys, their world is different than yours, so they will be different. You weren't exactly what I expected either when I first met you. I have no idea what to expect from them in real life." I told them.

Leo was watching the screen, lost in thought. Then looked at Donnie. "Can you think of anything else we can do?"

"Not right off hand, no."

"At least look into it then. If we get pushed against that wall they might be our only door." Leo said. He rubbed his eyes. He was still so exhausted, I could tell by looking at him. But it seemed most of the stiffness and soreness from his bruises was gone. Donnie was right, they did heal remarkably fast.

"Eat first." I told Donnie pointing at his now cold supper.

"Yes ma'am."

"Can Leo eat?"

"He should be able to now. He's not having any nausea." Donnie sat at his desk and began to eat.

"Good." I went into the kitchen and fixed another plate and brought it back. I placed it on Donnie's work tray and pushed it over to Leo. "You eat too."

"Yes ma'am" He imitated Donnie perfectly.

By the time they were done eating Leo was having trouble sitting up Donnie eased him back down into a laying position. "How long will he be like this?" I asked Donnie. Leo was already falling asleep.

"Maybe tonight should do it. It's the side effect of the mutagen in our blood. It heals us fast but it's a shock kinda to our system. A normal person takes seven to ten days to fully recover from a concussion, not to mention all the bruising he had. He's almost fully healed, but the healing process drains us. That's the reason why he is sleeping so much." Donnie picked up the plates. "It's getting late, you should get some rest too."

"And you?"

"Don't worry. I'm not going to pull an all nighter tonight. Leo is well past any danger. He just needs sleep. Go ahead and go to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight Donnie."

"Goodnight." He left with the plates, turning the lights off as he went out.

I softly slipped into the bed next to Leo. He woke up just enough to make room and slip his arms around me. Then he was still once more, his breathing telling me he was asleep. "I love you." I softly whispered to him. He didn't reply but his arms tightened slightly around me for a moment. Tired myself I was soon asleep.

Once again I woke up before Leo. But this time he awoke shortly after I did. His eyes seemed a lot more alert and the exhaustion I had seen yesterday was gone from his face. He seemed to move easier also. "Good morning." He told me quietly.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better actually."

"Good." Came Donnie's voice from his desk. "It's time to get you on your feet then." He got up and walked over. "You ready to get up?"

Leo nodded and sat up. With Donnie standing nearby in case if he was needed, he got on his feet. It felt good to see him up and out of bed. I got up myself. "Go ahead and stretch out." Donnie told him. "Before your muscles think you forgot about them."

Leo laughed but did as he was told, moving his body in various stretch poses. "Alright, I officially take you off of bed rest. Now get the heck out of my lab." This time I joined in with Leo's laughter.

He picked up his gear and we left the lab. The kids and Mikey were in a pile of arms, legs and blankets in the living room, still sleeping. "I guess this means I got breakfast duty today." I said.

"Looks like it." He smiled at the sight. "I'm going to go shower."

"Ok." I then went to the kitchen to start breakfast. The rest of the day passed quietly, but there was that underlying tension in the air. Leo and Donnie filled April, Raph and Mikey in on what was discussed last night. Mikey of course had to go watch my tape, pestering poor Donnie until finally it was turned on for him. But even Mikey was quieter than usual. There was something brewing and we all could feel it. It was not a good feeling.

Finally it was time for me to take the kids back home, they had school the next day. Leo was going to stay at the lair, just in case something did happen. April told me she would let me know if the guys had to rush out. I decided I'd call Mandi that night and ask her if she could take the kids for a few days, just in case. I knew she would get them to school for me.

"Sure I can take them. What's going on?"

"That's just it. We don't really know. It's not a pleasant situation right now." I quickly filled her in on what happened over the weekend.

"Wow, alright. Just let the school know I'll be picking the kids up tomorrow."

"I will. Thanks Mandi. I owe you."

"Don't worry about it. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Goodnight."

"Night."

I went to bed that night with that uneasy feeling still nagging at me. Something was going to happen, and soon.


	13. Chapter 13

A couple of evenings later we were in the lab with Donnie. He thought he might have found a way to get a hold of their 90s era counterparts and he was about to test his theory. He was sitting there rambling off to himself as he worked on his computer. I noticed that when he was nervous or under pressure he did that. He thought he had found the right... frequency I guess you could say. But he lacked a connection to the other side to make a portal. He did think however, that he could maybe get a message through. The whole thing gave me a headache honestly, Donnie was working with things that I couldn't even begin to understand. Finally he sat back and sighed. "Now, we wait." he said.

And wait we did, but not for long. And the waiting stopped for the wrong reason. One of Donnie's alarms was going off and he turned towards it to see what had set it off. "Bank heist." He said then worked a moment to pull up the cameras he needed. We watched for a few moments.

"Damn it..." Raph whispered. There was a large number of Foot in the bank and they had caught it just before it closed. They had a lobby full of hostages.

"We are out of time." Leo said.

"You know they are going to be expecting us right?"

"Do we have a choice?"

Raph sighed. "Not really."

Leo looked at April and I. "You two stay here. If this is going to go the way we think it will, it's going to be to dangerous for you."

"Alright Leo." April said.

"I mean it April, do not follow us." He had a very no nonsense look on his face. He was dead serious and we knew it.

She sighed. Apparently she had a bad habit of doing that and he just called her out on it. "Ok, ok."

Leo looked at her a moment longer then let it drop. Then he looked at me, and his eyes softened for a moment as he took in my now scared expression. He came over and took me in his arms a moment. He didn't say anything, there was nothing he could say that would make me feel better. "I love you." He said softly.

"I love you too." I replied tears forming in my eyes. I was so scared, they were walking into a trap and we all knew it.

He pulled away. "Let's go." And then they were gone.

I stood there for a moment, then wiped my eyes. Donnie had left the camera feeds up on the screen and April and I sat down in chairs in front of them. At least we could see what was happening. And for awhile nothing was, besides the police showing up. And they absolutely did no good what so ever in this situation. If anything the Foot had them ducking behind their patrol cars. "New York's finest at it's best." April muttered.

"Hey, go easy on them. You really think they can handle this? I mean come on, they are barricaded in there with more weapons than a damn special forces unit."

"I suppose your right. I'm just frustrated." She sighed again.

"I know."

Suddenly the screen on our far right came on. It was a map. And shortly after four different colored blinking lights came on. Each color matching with each Turtle. "They turned their trackers on." April said. Then another set of lights came on, then a third. "What the hell?" April frowned.

"Multiple trackers. They are trying to make sure we can follow them. I think they are hoping that one set will remained undiscovered."

"Like we can do anything."

"But at least we will be able to find them."

We sat and watched as the lights closed in on the bank. Finally the two points met up. "Here we go." April said softly.

We turned our attention to the screen. Suddenly the screen went from normal to a green tint. I took me a moment to figure it out. "They killed the lights, Donnie must have a night vision hookup in his system somewhere."

"He never ceases to amaze me." April chuckled. Even with the night vision we couldn't really see the guys. They were just to good. We knew they were there however as Foot started to disappear. Then I saw a form drop down by the hostages and then they all got up as one and ran for the door. The Foot in their way suddenly gone. We watched as they ran out of the building. "At least they got them out." April said. "Now they need to get themselves out."

The guys started to pull back and we knew they were trying to make their escape. It seemed like they would for a moment, until that hope was dashed with the sight of one of them flying across the room, slamming into the teller's counter. "Shit." I whispered. Suddenly three larger forms gathered around it, that told me the one that went flying was Mikey. He seemed to be alright as he got up.

Once again they tried to pull back. "Come on guys...Get out of there." April whispered. Then suddenly there was a fifth form and they all blurred together for a few moments and Foot gathered around them. Then one by one they were flung from the fast moving blob of green. When they hit the floor they didn't get up. Now with the fighting stopped I got a good look at the form that came after them. "Is that...?" April started.

"Shredder." I whispered. "Damn it..." I watched as the guys were restrained. I felt so helpless. The blinking lights on the right side screen dropped down to one set of lights. "They found the trackers." April whispered.

"Not all of them." I watched as there were still a solid signal coming in. We watched helplessly as the nonmoving forms of the guys were gathered up and carried away from the camera's line of sight. "God damn it all to hell!" I kicked Donnie's trash can across the room then collapsed my upper body onto the desk and began to cry. April sat stunned next to me. They were caught and there wasn't a damn thing we could do about it. We had no idea how to help them at this point.

"Wow. And here I thought Raph had a temper." Came a chuckling voice from behind us.

"Keep it up, loudmouth, and I'll show you my temper." Came right after.

April and I both spun around in our chairs.

Standing there in front of us, with an open portal behind them, were four smaller versions of the Turtles. Speechless April and I stared, it had actually worked...

Their Leo walked up to us. "We got a call for help from someone who says we have a lot in common. Now would you two ladies care to explain what the shell is going on?"


	14. Chapter 14

Again I was taken aback by differences. The ones in the live action movies were obviously men in rubber suits, these guys obviously were not. They were a bit taller than the movies. Actually they kind of reminded me of the TMNT movie rather than the live action ones, but not quite either. They were a mix of the two if I guess you could say. You couldn't help but notice in the movies a certain clumsiness about them, which stood to reason because the actors were wearing heavy suits. It was hard to capture that fluid ninja grace in those kind of suits. These guys however had none of that unintended clumsiness. They moved with the same grace as their counterparts in this world. Even if they were not as large, I was sure they were just as skilled. But I wasn't sure that would help us now.

"It's already too late." I told their Leo softly with tears in my eyes. "They have been caught."

He looked at me, he had that same calmness about him but his eyes were darker than my Leo's wondrous blue eyes. His brothers stood quietly behind him watching. "Who got caught." He asked me.

"Your counterparts in this world." April told him.

"Say what?" Came from Raph. "Did I just hear her right?"

"You heard her right." Donnie said.

"Cool guys! We got twins!" Yup Mikey will be Mikey, in any world.

"Knock it off, bone head." Raph told him. "How about you start from the beginning."

"And exactly who are you two anyway." Donnie added.

April sighed, "Well, my name is April and this is Vicky."

"April? As in April O'Neal?" Leo asked.

"Yes..." She looked a little stunned.

"I told you April, they are just another version of our guys, just from another reality. They have an April in their world also." I told her.

Donnie looked at me. "Tell me, was it your Donatello who sent that message?"

I nodded. "That explains a lot..." He said. "I thought something about that message felt...familiar."

"I'm still waiting for the 'What is going on?' explanation." Raph grumbled.

We told them everything that has been happening the last few days. Right up until the events that just happened. They quietly listened, even Mikey. I couldn't really tell them anything and I let April do most of the talking. I was having enough trouble keeping my emotions from spilling out everywhere. When they were brought up to speed on the events they stood there quietly for a moment. Then Leo looked at his brothers and had gotten three nods in return.

"We will help you. Tell me everything about your opponents in this world, and about our counterparts." Leo said.

"Do we have time for this?" April asked.

"We take the time. We need to know what we are up against before we do anything." Was the reply. It stung me how much the two Leo's were alike.

I was watching them quietly. They actually seemed more mature than the movie also. For the most part anyway. I'm sure they had that fun loving wisecracking side in there somewhere. This time I spoke up, I was the best one I guess to explain the differences. Suppressing my tears I told them of the differences of what was here and what I knew of their world.

"Are you saying you have a Robot Shredder here?" Raph asked "That's a new twist."

"Actually it's more like a robot suit." April told him. "We just don't know who is in it."

Donnie looked thoughtful. "Let me take care of that." He looked around. "You think they would mind if I borrowed some stuff?"

"I don't think they would mind too much." April said.

I looked over at the map screen. The only comfort I had was the lights moving across the screen. If they were moving then that hopefully meant they were alive. I couldn't believe the Foot would waste the effort on corpses, I had to believe that. "What's that." Came Mikey's voice from next to me. My head was getting all confused. Mikey was caught, but Mikey was here. I was getting a headache from it all.

"Their tracking signals." I replied softly.

"That makes it easier." Leo said from my other side. I was getting so confused on who was where. I rubbed my aching head. "You ok?" He asked me.

"As good as it's going to get." I replied.

"I'm ready." Donnie said.

The tracking signals had stopped moving by now. April looked over the map. "That's not to far from here."

"Can we go now?" Raph asked impatiently.

"In a moment. I think they might need some gear. I doubt the Foot let them keep their weapons." I said.

"I'll help you." Leo replied.

I lead him to the weapons wall and we started to gather some things. I still couldn't believe this was actually happening. "Thank you." I said quietly to my lover's counterpart.

"None needed. I have to admit the message was a bit of a shock to us. It sent Donnie into a frenzy."

"I can imagine." I managed a small smile.

"Sounds like they had their hands full."

"It's just that who ever is behind this knows exactly every move they might make. They really didn't stand a chance against those odds and sooner or we knew this would happen." I picked up a pair of katanas off of the wall. "They haven't been out of the lair for a few days so the Foot pulled that heist. The guys knew that bank heist was a trap but they went anyway."

"We would have done the same thing. You think they might be expecting something like this?" He took the swords from me and slid them next to his

"I really don't know, but I doubt it. The idea actually came from me." I picked up a pair of sai next and tucked them into my belt

"Which brings me to the obvious question." He said grabbing one of Donnie's staffs and a pair of nunchuku.

"Simple, I'm not from this world either. I met them in a freak accident. In my world you guys are well known but only as comic figures, tv shows and movies. I figured if their version was real then maybe yours was too."

"Makes sense to me." Donnie said as he joined us. He took the staff from his brother and also slid it into place next to his.

"Believe it or not, it does to me as well, Donnie. You needed to do something they could not predict and we were the only solution."

I nodded. "The only ones that could actually do anything. I just hope we can help them..." I teared up again.

"Donnie, go tell the others we are about ready to leave." Leo told his brother while watching me. Donnie nodded and left. Leo waited until he left the room. "Which one is it?" He asked me straight forward, once again just like my Leo would... I didn't need him to explain I knew what he was asking. "I'm not trying to pry, but I need to know everything so I can help you. I have to take in all factors into consideration. This is a new situation for all of us."

I looked at him. "You are so much like him. It's amazing how you two are so different but so much alike."

He smiled. "I guess that answers that. We will do our best to get them back, that I give my word on. To you and to my counterpart."

I just nodded. I looked at the weapons wall again to try and get my tears under control and something caught my eye. I reached out and picked it up, it was an asp. I was actually kind of shocked to see such a non ninja item here, but was glad to find it. This I knew how to use... I snapped it out and spun it a few times to get the feel for it. Wasn't as rusty as I thought I would be... I snapped it back shut and looked at my new friend. "Let's go."

We made our way to the address April had written down, her and I walking and four shadows along the rooftops. Finally we caught sight of the building we were looking for. April and I ducked into an alley and looked it over. Suddenly four shadows dropped to the ground around us. They too peeked around the ally corner. It seemed like a two story warehouse or storage building. Why did it always have warehouses? Couldn't bad guys find somewhere else to do their evil deeds? "Doesn't seem guarded." Leo said.

"Why would it be?" I said with sarcasm. "The ones that would have give them problems are already trapped inside." Then I looked at him. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for."

"It's ok, I fully understand. I was expecting that from him though." He pointed a finger to Raph.

"She beat me to it." He grinned.

"Still, let's be careful. There might be cameras or something. Or guards we can't see right now." Leo said. "Let's go back up top and scope out the roof."

"Up, down, up, down. What the hell are we? Yo-yos?" Raph grumbled.

"Just come on." And Leo started up the fire escape to the building we were hiding next to. We followed him up. We moved to the edge of the building and ducked down behind the ledge framing the rooftop. "I don't see any cameras." Donnie whispered.

Raph just pointed. There were two guards, one on opposite corners of the roof.

"We need to take them out. There is a ventilation shaft we can use to get in and they are in the way." Leo whispered. "Mikey, Donnie go. We will make our way over to the shaft. We meet up there again."

"On it, dude." And they slipped away.

"Come on." Leo silently made his way to a roof top closer to the building we were trying to get into. We got as close as we could. It was still a decent jump. There was no way April and I were going to make that. "Hang onto me." Leo told me as he picked me up "Raph grab April." He then waited, his eyes watching the roof intently.

The two guards suddenly went down without a sound. Damn, they were just as good as their counterparts. I hadn't even seen them move. Leo took a running start and lept over the ally gap, Raph following right behind. They kept running, carrying us, until we reached the vent cover. Mikey and Donnie were already there. Donnie looked the cover over and nodded to Raph. He slipped out a sai and carefully popped the cover loose. One by one we silently slipped into the vent, quietly making our way further into the building. After some distance we came to another cover on the vent floor. Quietly we looked out.

The room below us was a very large, open space. It was filled with boxes and crates on one side of the building, the other side was almost empty. And there, on one of those empty spaces along the wall, were the guys. They had been shackled to a reinforced section of the wall. Obviously this had been prepared for them well in advance. But what made me feel better instantly was the fact that they were all alive. Pissed off and pulling on their shackles, but alive. They were also surrounded by guards.

"Holy crap! They are huge!" Came a whisper from beside me.

"Can it, Mikey." Raph snapped quietly.

"Quiet guys." Leo muttered. "Someone is coming in."

Two individuals walked in and began working on some equipment on the far side of the room. One I knew right off of the bat was Shredder. The armor kind of gave it away. I didn't know the other man, April however did. "Stockman." She hissed under her breath.

"Let's listen a minute." Leo said quietly. "Let's see if we can figure out how much they expect."

I thought a second. "If we only had a way to let them know we we here, then maybe the guys could help us goad the info out of them."

"And how on earth do we do that with out giving ourselves away?" April asked.

I remembered all of the times I could feel Leo watching me when he thought I couldn't see him. Remembering the goose bumps it always gave me, especially when we first met. Leo also had that uncanny ability to know his surroundings. "Let me try something." I whispered.

"What?"

"It's something I can't explain, but If I know Leo if I do this right he will know I'm here." I moved the others out of the way and I sat as close as I could to the vent cover. Then I stared at him, letting all the love I have for him flow into that stare. I know it sounds cheesy as hell, but it worked. Leo's gaze snapped up to the vent we were hiding in, his eyes searching. I took one of Raph's sais out of my belt and poked it through the vent and waved it back and forth a bit. His eyes widened and I drew the weapon back in. Then he looked pissed as a mother fucker. Well he did tell us to stay behind... I needed to let him know things had changed slightly. "Give me your masks." I told the turtles with me.

"What? Why?" Came Raph's stunned whisper.

"Because he thinks that April and I are here alone. He doesn't know your here." I held out my hand. Sighing Raph took his mask off and so did the others and they gave them to me. I looked back out the vent. I was still getting glared at. I carefully slipped just enough of the mask tails down for Leo to make out the colors. He looked at them a moment, then his eyes widened in stunned realization. I pulled the masks back in and handed them over my shoulder to their owners. Now it was up to him to get us the info we needed. We sat and waited to see what would happen.

Leo started to pull on his shackles again. Harder this time. This caught Stockman's attention. "Keep trying, buffoon. You can't break it, they were made just for you. The only way you are getting out of them is if I press this button to let you go." That piece of information was noted by all eyes in the vent. I had to smile, yup Stockman was just as overconfident here as in all other incarnations.

"What do you want from us, Stockman." Leo snapped at him.

"Isn't that obvious? I want to be rid of you. But in a way where I can still use you. You are such good material to study. It's a shame you won't live through the experiments."

"Your not going to get away with this." The predictable 'make the bad guy explain his genius plan' ploy.

"And please tell me who is going to stop me? Your little human friends? Sadly I do believe they are in no shape to help you." Leo glared at him. "Poor fool. You have no idea what your were up against do you? You were doomed to fail from the start."

"Oh? And why is that?"

Stockman laughed. "Because I used you against you."

"What?" Leo couldn't help but sound confused. Hell I was confused. What the hell was he talking about?

"Allow me to show you." He turned to Shredder. "Would you be so kind my friend?"

Shredder's hands went up to the helmet and he removed it. We all had to muffle our gasps and the guys down below were just as shocked. The head under the helmet was a mutant turtle head. What in the hell was going on...

"What the hell did you do Stockman?" Raph down below snapped at him.

"Isn't it obvious? I mixed your DNA together to create my friend here. He has every bit of intelligence that the four of you have, but in one head instead of four. What better way to counter your moves than to use your own intelligence against you?"

"Shit." I whispered softly.

"I second that." The Raph beside me muttered.

"Your going to pay for this!" Raph was getting real pissed now. He was trying to rip the shackles out of the wall. I heard the Leo and Donnie have a mumbled conversation behind me. Then Donnie scurried away.

"No I'm not. There is no one left to stop me. Now if you will excuse me I need to set up the experiments I was addressing earlier." He turned back to the control panel along with the Shredder/turtle.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to look. Leo pointed forward and we moved further along the vent, stopping at every cover to look out and see exactly where we were. Finally we were over the cover that was almost directly above the guys. Leo handed me the swords, April was holding the staff and nunchuku. Carefully Raph removed the cover and pulled it inside the vent. Then Leo held me and Raph held April. He took one look around to his brothers. "Ready?" He whispered.

Raph and Mikey nodded.

Leo turned his attention to April and I. "OK. We are going to drop you guys next to your friends then hold off the guards. Donnie will take care of their shackles. Arm them the moment they come off. Got it?" We nodded.

He took a deep breath. "Let's go." And he pushed off.

We fell and Leo landed lightly on his feet. Quickly he put me down and drew his own blades. Raph and Mikey landed right after we did. The guards were stunned a moment but quickly recovered and began to raise their weapons. But they weren't fast enough. The three smaller turtles exploded into the middle of them with ferocity.

"What the hell?" Came from four voices on the wall.

"Guys, meet your counterparts." I told them. I had their weapons ready in my hands.

"What is going on!" Stockman yelled. He and his creation moved away from the control panel towards the brawl. "What in the..." He stopped and stared in shock. "Get them!" He yelled at the turtle next to him. The mutant started towards the fight

Another form dropped to the floor behind them near the control panel. I quickly turned and the shackles released them from the wall. I threw Raph his sais, which he caught, and handed Leo his swords. "Duck!" He snapped and I hit the floor. His fist lashed out over me and sent a guard flying. He helped me back up. "Stay close." He told me.

I quickly noticed a big difference in fighting styles in the two groups of turtles. Both had remarkable skills but the smaller ones were not above taunting their foes, where the larger ones just stomped on them.

"That the best you got?" Came from little Mikey. "Come on man, you move slower that my grandma."

"You don't know your grandma." little Raph replied.

"No, but I know she was a turtle! That means he's slow. Oh are you still trying?" He hit the guard in the face and he fell to the ground, he didn't get back up. "See told you your slow!" He chirped.

"Man these guys are cool." The other Mikey grinned.

"Oh brother." Came from the other Raph.

"Missed me." came from little Donnie as he ducked a swing. He then swerved to the side avoiding another one. "Missed me again. My turn!" And he cracked his staff on the guy's head. "Hey Leo! We should go portal hopping more often!" He swung his staff around behind him and took out another guard.

"I'm glad your having fun. I love taking you guys on these little outings." Was the reply as he kicked away a guard.

"Do they ever shut up?" My Leo asked me with amusement in his voice.

"Not really." I grinned.

There was a guard coming up behind Leo and I whipped the asp out and smacked him on the elbow with it. He cried out and grabbed his arm in pain. Then Leo spun around and knocked him out. "It's a Little distracting when they do that."

"Tell me about it." Raph grumbled from next to me.

"Oh I dunno," Mikey said "I think it's kinda funny.

"You would." Donnie said.

I looked around real quick. April was with Donnie and Mikey, they had her between them to cover her, just like Raph and Leo were doing with me. The smaller ones were working their way towards us.

Then the Turtle moved in behind them. "Look out!" I yelled to them and they scattered. He did how ever manage to clip little Raph and he came flying towards us.

Raph lept up into the air and caught his smaller counterpart. "Man that guy can hit." Came the mumble from the smaller turtle as he was put down

"Tell me about it." Replied the larger one.

"I thought I just did."

Raph couldn't help the grin.

"We need to get him out of that suit!" Leo said from next to me as the smaller turtles joined up with us

His counterpart had heard him. "We need to get our Donnie close to him." He kicked out at a guard.

Leo looked at him quickly then nodded. "Donnie!" Two heads turned his way. He made eye contact with his brother. "Slingshot!" The larger Donnie nodded then quickly turned to his counterpart to explain.

"Rush him!" Leo told the rest of them. "Keep him busy."

Together they went after the armored turtle. They traded blows with the mutant and he matched them all blow for blow. It was amazing to watch them working together. It was like they had been doing this forever. They complimented each others movements, the smaller ones ducking underneath openings the larger ones made to get hits in. Finally the two Leos were able to pin one arm and the Raphs were able to pin the other one in the same way. The Mikeys moved as one behind him and each wrapped their weapons around one arm and helped hold him. They wouldn't be able to hold him long however. "Now!" Leo snapped and little Donnie came flying in, flipping over the head and slamming something into the back of the armor. "Turn him loose!" He yelled as he landed on the floor behind the mutant. They all released their hold as there were sparks flying and streaks of electricity coursed through the armor in blue bands. The smell of burnt flesh started to fill the air as the assault continued. Finally with a loud fizz the body collapsed to the floor. It was now deathly quiet in the room, everyone who could still walk had fled. Including Stockman. Donnie went over to check the now burnt creature. "He's not going to bother us anymore." He said as he got up.

"Let's get out of here." Both Leos said at the same time. Then they looked at each other and started to laugh. That was however cut short as an alarm stated to blare. "Self destruct program started. One minute until detonation." Came over a speaker system.

"Oh come on!" Little Raph said. "You have got to be kidding me!"

"Move!" Leo snapped and grabbed my arm, swinging me up into his arms as he ran. Donnie had April in the same hold. We headed for the far end of the warehouse, but Leo didn't even go for the door there, more than likely it was locked. Instead he started to jump from crate to crate towards the windows lining the top of the wall. Raph passed him up and broke through the glass first, using his shell, as He launched through. Leo went for the hole he just made and went through it, Donnie right behind. The others just made their own holes. They all hit the ground running but we still got hit by the shock wave as the explosion ripped through the building. Leo held me close and rolled in the air so his shell was on the bottom and we hit hard. Then he quickly turned over, pinning me under him, shielding me with his body until all the debris settled down.

"You alright?" He asked me.

"I'm fine." I replied as we got up.

"Everyone ok?" He then asked the others. They all nodded.

"I don't know about you guys, but I really want to go home." Mikey said

"Sounds like a plan to me." Leo said and lead the way back to the lair.


	15. Chapter 15

April and I were walking along the dark streets heading back to the lair. It was getting late but we weren't to worried, there were eight silent shadows gliding the rooftops above us. There was no way we could keep up with them up there and we figured they had been through enough tonight to carry us the whole way back. Walking was just fine for both of us tonight.

"I'm thinking about moving." April told me as we walked.

"Might not be a bad idea, might want to use an alias or something though just in case something like this happens on a regular basis."

"Lord I hope not." She sighed. "I hate moving. Especially living in the city."

"I bet." I laughed.

We turned into an ally that lead us to the next street we needed. We were almost to the tunnel that would lead us to the lair. We chatted as we walked so it wasn't until we were about halfway in when we noticed that we had screwed up, bad. We had walked right into a large scale burglary in progress. We tried to back away but found that they had already cut us off. Shit...there were a lot of them.

"Well, well well. We meet again, don't we bitch?" Why do they always have to call us bitch? Was that the only word in their vocabulary? And didn't I know that voice?

"Oh. no..." I muttered as he came into view. It was the guy from the club. His nose was taped up and both of his eyes had blue rings around them. I couldn't help but laugh, he looked like a raccoon. That might not have been the wisest choice under these conditions though. "Oh, you think it's funny that you broke my nose?"

"Hey...John you said a guy punched you in the face." One of his buddies said.

His face got red. "Shut up, Sam!" And I laughed again. What the hell was wrong with me? Was I trying to piss him off more?

By now they had us backed against a wall. "Your going to pay for that..." He told me.

"Well maybe if you would keep your hands to yourself it wouldn't have happened, you moron." April nudged me, I think she really wanted me to shut up already.

"Still have that mouth I see. I think it's time I did something about that." He reached out an arm to grab me and quickly I snapped the asp out and brought it down on his wrist. I heard a cracking noise and he pulled his arm back in pain, screaming.

"I told you before, keep your hands off of me." I snapped at him.

"You are so dead." He growled pulling a knife out with his good arm.

A large form dropped down from above us, landing quietly behind my now would be attacker.. "I don't think so." Came Leo's deathly quiet calm voice as seven more shadows hit the ground behind him.

John turned around to swing his knife at the new, unfamiliar to him, voice. Leo's arm however caught it in a block, stopping the swing. Then he chuckled. "Damn, she did bust your nose up pretty good, didn't she?" Then he hit him in the jaw and John slammed into the wall then slid down to the ground. Leo then looked around, the others had made quick work of the bumbling burglars.

"You think you can make it the rest of the way without getting into any more trouble?" He asked turning back to April and I, amusement in his voice.

"No promises." I smiled at him.

He just laughed and launched himself back up to the rooftop.

"Lord, you are just as bad as they are." April grinned at me as we once again made our way down the ally.

"I know. Maybe that's why I love them so much." I grinned back.

"Yeah, they are lovable." Came her reply and we shared a laugh.

Finally we made it to the lair with no further incidents. We gathered in the lab, it was time for our new friends to go home. "Thank you." Leo reached out his hand and placed it on his counterpart's shoulder. "We owe you a lot. If you ever need anything, just ask."

"I'm glad we could help." He replied, then smiled. "It was actually kind of fun."

Raph chuckled. "You guys fight pretty good, for a bunch of short guys."

"This from the jolly green giant over there..." little Raph muttered. Then grinned. "If you ever run out of heads to bust, let me know."

"I sure will." Raph grinned back.

Donnie had sat down in his chair. "I just wish we had been able to get into his computer, I would have liked to know more." He sighed.

"I figured you would." Little Donnie winked, then tossed his larger counterpart something. "I raided the computer for you."

"How delightful!" He smiled.

Both Leo's looked around. "Where's Mikey?" They said together and I had to laugh.

Little Mikey came storming in. "Guys can we stay? He's got some awesome video games!" Mikey came in behind him.

"No." Little Leo said. "I think we stayed long enough, besides you have enough video games."

"But his are better!"

"No, Mikey."

"Oh maaan." Both Mikeys said.

"Come on, dip shit." Little Raph grabbed his brother by the mask tails and pulled him toward the portal, little Donnie followed. He looked over his shoulder to Donnie. "Keep in touch."

"I will." Donnie replied then Little Donnie stepped through, following his brothers.

I caught little Leo's arm as he was about to step through. I quickly gave him a hug. "Thank you so much."

"You very welcome." He looked at Leo. "You have something very special here, it gives me hope for us. Maybe one day..." He sighed. "Take care of her."

"I will, my friend."

He stepped through the portal without another word and it closed behind him.

"Well that was interesting." Donnie said.

"Yeah, but really cool!"

"Yeah, it was, Mikey." Raph smiled.

Leo looked at April and I. "Didn't I tell you two to stay put?"

"You really didn't expect us to, did you?" April replied.

"Yes, actually I did."

"Well, tough turtle wax."

"Tough turtle wax? Really? That's the best you could come up with?" I muttered to her.

"Hey, I'm tired." She grinned.

Leo rubbed his face. He looked tired. "What am I going to do with you two?" He sighed.

"Your going to accept the fact that we will always find a way to help you, that's what." I told him. "You might as well get used to the idea. We are not just going to sit on the sidelines when you need help. Deal with it."

"Ooooh snap..." Mikey muttered.

Leo looked at us a moment. Then he actually laughed. "All right, you win." He pulled us into a hug. "Thank you."

"No problem, big guy." April said as he released the hug. She looked over to the screen where the tracker signals were still blinking away. "I think you can turn those off now." She said. "Your going to waste the batteries on them."

Donnie sighed. "No, actually we can't. Not for a day or so anyway."

"Why on earth not?" I asked him.

"Well there was only really one place we could hide them where we were sure they wouldn't be found."

It took a moment to sink in. "You _swallowed_ them?"

"Leo made us." Mikey said. "He threatened to shove mine down my throat for me."

April was trying real hard not to laugh, and was failing. "Well at least we will know where you guys will be for the next day or two." I said. Then shook my head.

Leo shrugged. "Hey, it worked. They didn't find them."

"You better hope it don't hurt coming out." Mikey said.

"I can't believe I'm having this conversation." I mumbled. "I'm going to take a shower, then I'm going to bed. You guys can discuss the proper tracker exit procedure without me." I turned and left the lab, their laughter following me. I decided to use theirs instead of mine. It was closer and I was to tired to walk to mine.

I really needed that shower, I was covered in dust, dirt, cobwebs and who knows what else. I reached in and turned the water on to let it warm up while I got undressed. It wasn't until I was in the shower that I remembered forgot to adjust the shower head. Right now it was spraying water to high. "Damn it Raph, why do you have to be so friggin tall?" I griped as I tried to reach the shower head. It was set higher up on the wall than normal, well duh big turtles remember?, so I had to resort to trying to hop up and reach it so I could adjust it. Not the best thing to be doing in a shower but at that point I didn't care. I refused to let that damn shower head beat me, I would get it adjusted. Yeah, childish I know, but I get that way sometimes. I was about to try and smack it down with the shampoo bottle when a green hand reached out from behind me and lowered the shower head for me. "Forgot to adjust it again?" Leo said from behind me.

"No, I'm hopping in here like a naked Easter Bunny for the fun of it." Yeah, I know that wasn't very nice. I was dirty and tired and I just wanted to go to bed honestly. I can get a bit crabby when I'm tired. I was also still a bit wound up from earlier.

He didn't take offense, he knows my moods by now and he could read me like a book. He took one glance at me and leaned me back onto his chest, his arms wrapped around my waist. I relaxed in his grip as the warm water flowed over me. It was such a soothing feeling leaning on him and having the warmth of the water flow over me.

I was actually starting to drift off into a doze when I felt him shift slightly and move an arm. Then I felt him pour something in my wet hair and a moment later his hand started to work the shampoo in. It was a bit tricky with my long hair and him only using one arm but he managed. He rinsed my hair out and then did the same thing with the conditioner.

It always caught me off guard on how gentle he can be for such a large being. Looking at his size you wouldn't come to that conclusion right away. He reminded me again by softly beginning to wash me, again with one arm. He took his time, making sure he got everyplace he could. Now I know what you are thinking, hanky panky in the shower, but that wasn't the case, not this time anyway. He was like this sometimes, showing me how much he cared without it having to be sexual. I told you, he could read my mood and he knew I was tired and a bit tense. He did what he could to just get me to relax.

Once he finished he gently turned me around and leaned me on his chest again. He then washed my back, again with only one arm because he had the other wrapped around me. He let the water rinse the soap away and then began to softly massage my back. I sighed as his gentle hand worked away the stress of the night. Again I felt myself dozing off in his arms, the warm water and his soft touch trying to pull me to sleep.

By the time he turned the water off I was more than ready for bed. I was so drowsy I could barely stand on my own honestly. He helped me dry off and wrapped my robe, the pretty blue one I had bought just for here, around me. Then he picked me up, and no I didn't gripe about it this time, then carried me to his room. As I sat on his bed I looked in distaste at the brush and comb on the night stand. He caught my look. "What's wrong?"

"I really don't feel like dealing with my hair. You made me to sleepy for it."

He laughed softly then picked up the comb and did it for me. "There, is that better?" I yawned and nodded. I picked up a couple of hair ties and quickly braided my hair. Then I slipped out of the robe and let it drop to the floor. To tired to even put on a nightdress I just crawled into bed, to his amused chuckle. He turned the lights off and soon joined me and covered us up. Laying there in his arms in the warmth of the bed I finally let my tired body rest and fell into a deep sleep, the events of the day forgotten.


	16. Chapter 16

The next few weeks went by quietly, well quietly as it could go for ninja turtles. They still had the occasional 'stop the evil bad guy's evil plot' fight every once in awhile but nothing they couldn't handle. April did end up moving, just to be on the safe side and we helped her move in. It was actually closer to the guy's lair.

At my home front school was getting ready for thanksgiving break and the kids were getting excited about some time off. They had every intention of hanging out in the lair the whole week. I was kind of amazed on how my two worlds meshed so well together. Donnie and I finally got around to setting the portal up in my closet, he even made a more slimmed down portal device for me. He also was the one that maintained it, though he did show me how. I even kept spare parts in my house, just in case.

It was starting to get colder so our outside got cut back by a lot and we found ourselves hanging out in the dojo a lot to burn of their energy. None of us really mentioned the idea of training them, it kind of just happened. Just something to tire two very energetic kids out. They stuck with it though.

Leo also kept his word about improving my skills. I'd never be a ninja like them but I could probably hold my own pretty good. In time it became a game to us all, they would try to 'ambush' me and I would take the self defense measures needed. Mikey found out the hard way one day that I have very good reflexes, always did. "Guys...I think she broke my wrist..." I had just cracked his wrist like I did the bar bungling burglar.

"Your just getting slow and lazy." Leo grinned at him. "Less video games, more training."

"Come here and let me look at it." Donnie said

Mikey went over to his brother. "It's not broken. Your going to have a nice bruise there for a day or two though."

"Serves him right for trying to sneak in on me in the bathroom." I said.

"Who takes an asp with them to the bathroom!" He complained.

"Apparently she does." Donnie said.

Raph smacked Mikey. "Idiot." He muttered.

Leo facepalmed. "Ok, new rules. Bathrooms, her room and my room are off limits. Got it?" Mikey nodded. Leo just walked away mumbling something about 'Mikey' and 'moron'.

It was the last day before thanksgiving break and I was working at my desk, trying to get these last few deadlines done when Leo walked in. "April wants to know if you want to go shopping with her. Casey was going to go with her but Donnie needed his help with something."

"Thanksgiving dinner?"

"Yup."

"Sure. I'm almost done. Can one of you guys meet the kids when they get off of the bus? Mom and Dad aren't home and won't be back for awhile and Jim is helping a neighbor."

"What time?"

I looked at the clock. "In about two hours."

"Shouldn't be a problem."

"Let me just finish up here. I'll be done in a few minutes."

Soon after that I was done. I sighed in relief, no more work until next week. I was looking forward to the break. I got up, then bundled up and went to the lair to find April waiting for me. "Ready?" She asked me.

"Whenever you are." I replied

"We'll be back later guys." She told them and we left. This was going to be my first thanks giving with them and I was actually kind of excited. I love this time of year, the togetherness of the family and all that mushy gushy crap. This year we were all going to gather in the lair. There was no way on god's green earth I could fit everyone in my house.

April and I had a great time. Usually I hate shopping, of any kind, but April made it fun. She was just as dear to me now as Mandi. They had even had the chance to meet each other a few times as well. All in all the three of us got along great. We walked to a nearby grocery store, it was a cold day but pretty. I was just happy to be outside, even if it was only for a little bit. A few minutes later we reached the store and began our shopping. We slowly wandered the isles picking up the things we needed.

"What do you think about this one?" She asked me holding up a large turkey.

"It should be big enough. Just keep Mikey away from it. He might try to roast it on Raph's sai."

She bust out laughing as she put it in the cart. "Donnie told me about that."

"Yeah...that was a fiasco." I laughed.

"I think we are done here. Let's check out and head back."

After paying for our stuff we started to make our way through the chilly afternoon back to the lair. We chatted about pretty much everything and were in good spirits. That however began to change, I started to feel uneasy. I think April felt it too because our conversation pretty much died off. You don't spend this much time with the guys and not learn to pick up on the cue when something felt wrong. And right now, something felt wrong.

"We are being followed." April muttered to me.

I nodded that was the feeling I was getting too.

"You got your tracker with you?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah."

"Turn it on."

Hiding what I was doing with the grocery bag I reached for my tracker through my clothes, yes I still kept it in my bra, and turned it on. I noticed April pretty much copied my movements. We really weren't far from the lair but we couldn't risk going there. We did however keep moving in the general direction. The closer we got the quicker the guys could find us, we hoped.

we kept walking for a few minutes then we noticed a group of men heading our way in front of us. Wouldn't have been odd except that they were eyeballing us a little to intently. "Shit." I muttered. "Who are they?"

"I don't know."

We came up to an ally that opened up into the street one block over. April pushed into me and we took it. From the sounds of footsteps behind us we knew the men had turned into the ally also. We had almost made it to the other side when a black van blocked the exit. "Come now ladies, you didn't think I would let you slip away that easily did you?" said a voice from behind us.

We turned around. There was a man standing there in a black suit, his men fanned out behind him. "You can get into that van now."

"The hell we are." I told him.

"You really don't have a choice. You have caught my curiosity, my dear, and I intend to satisfy it. Now get into the van, or I will put you in the van."

Suddenly there was a crash behind us and before I could even turn to look April and I were grabbed from behind and pulled backwards. Somehow we managed to hold on to the groceries. I found myself on the floor of a van, but one I was glad to be in.

"You meddling reptiles!" The man growled. I looked up to see Mikey and Raph standing over us and Leo was closing the doors.

"Hit it, Donnie!" Raph snapped.

Donnie swerved around the now ruined black van he had crashed into and sped off. Apparently he had built the thing to withstand a round of bumper cars.

"Who in the hell was that?" I asked.

"Bishop." Leo spat.

My blood ran cold. I knew full well what that man was capable of. "Well isn't this just great." I mumbled. "I got the mad scientist after me."

"Hey, at least you saved the turkey." Mikey said with a smile.

This time Leo smacked him. "Ooow!" Mikey looked a bit shocked on that one. Even I was a bit taken aback, Leo had hit him pretty hard. "This isn't funny Mikey. Not this time." I caught Donnie's eyes in the mirror and they to seemed stunned. Even Raph and April were quiet. Leo went to the back of the van. he stood there for a moment watching out the back window. He then suddenly lashed his fist into the van wall.

"Leo!" Raph snapped. "This isn't helping."

It took an enormous amount of self control but Leo calmed himself down. "Take us home, Donnie." He said quietly, then turned back to the window.

Once again we looked at each other, stunned. What the in hell just happened?

We arrived back at the lair shortly after and Leo still hadn't said a word. None of the rest of us felt like talking either which was rare. April and I went to the kitchen to put the things away with Mikey's help.

"Where are the kids?" I asked him quietly.

"At your place. Casey is with them. We didn't want them to know there might be trouble."

Leo and Raph came into the kitchen, the larger turtle going to the fridge to get a drink. Leo had his eyes fixed on me, something in them didn't feel right. "Your not going topside anymore." He told me. Raph closed the fridge and looked at his brother, frowning slightly.

"I'm sure I will be fine Leo-"

"I said you are not going topside anymore!" He interrupted me, yelling. "You will listen to me on this or I swear to god I'll have Donnie shut that god damn portal down!" He picked up a chair and slammed it into the wall, shattering it. April and Mikey turned to look, stunned.

Raph grabbed his brother's arm. "Leo, that is enough!" He snapped.

I just stood there in shock and for the first time ever, I was actually scared of him. I was scared of Leo... Tears filled my eyes and I fled the kitchen and ran past a stunned Donnie in the lab. I didn't stop until I was back in my own room, crying on my bed.


	17. Chapter 17

There was a knock on my door. "Vicky? You ok?" Came Casey's voice.

I didn't answer. I was still crying.

"Let me handle this, Casey. Go keep an eye on the kids." I heard Raph say.

He didn't knock and I didn't even hear the door open. He was all of a sudden just there, sitting on my bed. He pulled me up and wrapped me into a hug, I didn't even fight him and I cried into his chest. He just quietly held me for awhile. Finally I settled down. "You ok?" He asked.

"Not really."

"Just stay away from him for awhile. At least until he calms down."

"I've never seen him like that before, Raph." I said tears in my eyes again. Sure Leo could get mad but it was usually a calm anger, he never lost control like that.

"Honestly, I haven't either. He's acting more like me than I am and that's hard to pull off."

I laughed a little, then pulled back from him wiping my eyes. "Thank you for coming." I said.

"No problem. If it makes you feel any better he's pissed at me too."

"You? Why?"

"Probably because I punched him in the mouth after you left." He said.

"Raph! Why on earth did you do that?"

"Because he was being a jackass, that's why." He looked down at me. "There was no need for what he did, and I let him know that. My way."

I just shook my head. This day was going to hell in a hand basket real quick. "Just give him time to calm down, we will figure this out," Then he got up and left.

Needless to say it was tense in the lair for the next few days. Everyone walked around Leo like he was a ticking time bomb, he still had that anger about him and none of us could get it out of him on why. And worse of all he began to distance himself away from me, like he was trying to push me away. I think that hurt more than his outburst did. The others, especially Raph, looked on with with worry.

Even with all the tension in the lair we still had a good time on Thanksgiving. Mikey, April and I had spent the day cooking, trying to put at least one of everyone's favorite thing on the table. My family had come over and spent the day just hanging out. Surprisingly my mom and Raph got along very well, which I thought was very amusing. There was a lot of laughter at the table, except from Leo. He just sat there and ate quietly.

Finally after cleaning up, and two kids passed out on the couch, my family decided to get going. They said their goodnights and thank yous and left. Once they were gone the tension came back into the room. Casey took a look around. "You know, I was thinking we could all go to the farm this weekend. I think the fresh air would do everyone good, and I need to get some chores done up there." He looked at me. "You and the kids are welcome to come. I'm sure you would love it up there."

"No." Leo said quietly. "They are not going topside."

"Damn it, Leo!" Raph snapped.

"I said she isn't going and that's final!" Leo snapped back.

I had had enough. "That's not for you to decide." I told him. My own anger growing.

"The hell it isn't!"

Donnie and Mikey quickly grabbed the sleeping children and moved them to Mikey's room. This was about to get ugly.

"Damn it, Leo. I don't know what's going on. I don't even know you anymore. But I can't just hide away, and I refuse to!" I looked at Casey. "We would love to go with you. I've been wanting to go see the farm." I think I did that just to prove to him that I was my own person, it was a bit childish I know, but his behavior had rubbed me raw by now. If he would just talk to us! Damn...

Leo glared at me a moment, then stood up from the table so fast his chair fell backwards. He walked towards me and I could see the anger in his eyes. Suddenly Raph was in between us. "Back off, Leo. I won't let you hurt her. Your angry and not thinking straight." It hung there a moment between them, I thought for sure there was going to be a fight. Then Leo just turned around and stormed off to his room, slamming the door.

"Well that was fun." Casey mumbled. "Not exactly what I had intended guys. Sorry."

"It's ok, Casey." Raph told him, still looking at Leo's door. "I just wish he would come around, I hate seeing him like this. When do we leave?"

"I was thinking tomorrow morning, early."

"That we can do." Raph sighed. "I hope to god it helps one of us at least."

We all got up early the next morning and loaded up the van and Casey's car with the things we would need, and some Thanksgiving left overs, no way in hell we were leaving that good food behind. The kids were excited as well and were running and hopping around. Finally we had everything packed and ready to go, the guys got in the van, the kids and I joined April and Casey in the car. The drive was long and the kids were starting to get fidgity so it was a relief when we finally got to the farm. I immediately fell in love with it. My home was surrounded by fields, this place was surrounded by trees.

We pulled up to the porch and parked, Leo got out and shot into the woods surrounding the house. I sighed as I watched him go.

"He could have at least helped us with this crap." Casey grumbled.

"Just let him be, Casey. We can handle this." April said, her gaze also on the tree line where he disappeared to.

"What is wrong with him anyway?" Casey asked.

"I don't know. He's been like that since we ran into Bishop." April said.

"Bishop got a new power now? Change nice guys into a walking time bomb?" Casey shook his head.

"That's statistically impossible." Donnie told him.

"Well something knocked him off his rocker." Mikey mumbled. "I want the old Leo back."

"I do too." I couldn't help the tears as I said that.

Mikey heard the slight tremor in my voice and looked at me. "Aw, shit Vicky. I'm sorry." He came over and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Come on. Lets go inside and make some hot coco." He guided me inside.

The rest of the day passed peacefully. After we got everything unloaded and put away we helped Casey fix some things up that needed repairs, stock up on some firewood and a few other chores that needed to be done. The kids had a blast running around the house playing tag and hide and seek in the new environment. Mikey even played hide and seek with them, he had them looking for him for hours. It's hard to find a ninja in that game I guess. He did managed to wear them out though and they crashed out not long after supper. It was dark out now, and Leo still hadn't made it back. He had been gone the entire day, out in the cold.

Finally I had enough. I pulled my coat on.

"Where are you going?" Raph asked me.

"I'm going to go find Leo. It's time we had a talk."

"You want me to come with you?"

"No. I'll be fine. Just give a shout if he comes back, I'll stay close to the house."

He looked at me a bit doubtful but stayed put as I walked out the door. I spent awhile walking around looking for him in the woods, making sure I could keep the lights to the house in sight. I really didn't need to get lost out here. Trying to find a ninja in the woods at night was not the easiest thing to do, however. I know I could knock some heads but I was nowhere near as skilled as them. I sighed and kept looking. I had to try, I loved him to much not to.

It was getting colder, the temperature was dropping rapidly now, it was supposed to go well below freezing . I was getting cold and I was wondering if I should just go back and get Raph after all to help me find Leo. I was really starting to worry about him, he wasn't acting right and I wasn't sure his judgement on the elements was good right now. I was just about to turn back when I heard a noise further up ahead and I headed that direction, hoping it was Leo. Knowing my luck it was a deer or something but I went to go check anyway. I stumbled around a tree and found myself face to face with what had made the noise, and it wasn't Leo.

I had stumbled into the middle of a group of men dressed in black. Shit... This can't be good. I turned to run back the way I came and ran right into Bishop. Before I could do anything he grabbed me and pushed a cloth over my face, that cloth had a funny smell to it. I had watched enough movies to get the general idea of what that cloth was for. I tried fighting back but he seemed to just shake off my blows as if they were nothing. Damn it...this was Bishop, there was no getting away from him. By now I was getting drowsy fast. Finally I couldn't fight it anymore. "I told you I was going to satisfy my curiosity. It was so nice of you to save me the trouble of going to get you." He said as I slipped away.

The cold woke me up. I was so, so cold, why was it so cold... I groggily opened my eyes and found myself staring up at Bishop. I snapped awake as soon as I realized the predicament I was in. I tried to move and found myself strapped down to some kind of metal table. And why the hell was I naked? I looked around, it looked like we were inside a long narrow room, a very cold room. I was freezing.

"Ah good. Your awake." Bishop said to me. I just glared at him.

"We are ready to leave, Agent Bishop." Someone said from out of my view.

"Then let's move out before her friends find out we have her."

"Yes, sir."

"Now my dear, you are going to tell me everything about you. I've seen you help your reptile friends a time or two but strangely I can't find anything on you. And that's not easy to hide from me." His eyes were cold. "I need to make sure you aren't some kind of threat."

If I didn't already know the man's history I would have laughed at him. But I knew he was nuts and dangerous. He perceived me as a threat to the human race. He actually I thought I was some kind of alien or something. There was no way in hell I was going to explain anything to him though. He is the last person I would tell about where I came from. He would use that information to his own gains, regardless of the cost.

"I don't even know your name. That's how much of a mystery you are. I had your friends names figured out pretty quick and they are masters of stealth. You my dear, I have nothing on."

I felt the room start to move. What the hell? Then I felt the tell tale lurching as we picked up speed. Shit...the room I was in was a trailer, probably hooked up to some kind of truck.

"I took the liberty of drawing some blood and doing some tests. You appear to be perfectly normal. But appearances can be deceiving. Tell me, where are you from?"

I stayed quiet.

"You might as well talk. Your friends have no way of finding you. I left all your belongings out in the woods. There is nothing that can lead them here."

I was scared, so scared. I almost considered talking just to get him to leave me be. Almost. I felt something, something calming and very familiar. I had felt it only once, weeks ago, when I had first entered the turtles home. I took strength from that. I closed my eyes and turned my head away from him. I wasn't going to talk.

"I see. We are going to have to do this the hard way." He grabbed my arm, ignoring my pitiful struggles and injected something. A short while later I couldn't move anything. "This should subdue your struggling, but will let you feel everything. It's a little drug I came up with myself. You can still talk, but can't move." He picked up a scalpel. "You sure you don't want to tell me?"

I stayed quiet. Then he cut deep into my side. I couldn't help it, I screamed. The pain was unbearable and I now had tears running down my face from the pain. He quit cutting and I could feel my blood pouring down my side and onto the table, pooling under me. "This stops as soon as you tell me. Where are you from?" He asked again.

"Go fuck yourself." I told him, the pain making me a bit reckless I admit. My fight or flight instinct had kicked in and I couldn't flee, so I fought the only way I could. With words.

"I see." He brought the blade down again this time deep across my stomach and I let out another scream, trying but failing to hold it back. He cut slowly a long line from one side to the other. God it hurt, it hurt so bad. He pulled the blade away finally. "How many more can you take? Hmm?" I was starting to loose consciousness from the pain, trying to escape it.

Suddenly the trailer swerved to the side and it felt like we crashed into something. As soon as it stopped moving one of Bishop's men came flying from the front and slammed into the now off balanced Bishop. The man hit Bishop with enough force to send them both flying to the very back of the trailer. "Bishop!" A rage filled voice came from behind me. "This time you went to far!" Leo snarled as he came into my view, then he cut my bindings loose. The sight of him gave me new hope and I held on through my pain.

"I never go to far. I will protect humanity from any threats." Bishop got up.

"The only threat she is, is to your misguided mind." Leo snapped.

"That has yet to be proven." Bishop said and he and Leo came together in a flurry of movements. Bishop fought with a skill that matched, maybe exceeded Leo. Leo, who usually fought with a calm determination, now fought in a blind rage. And he was making mistakes because of it. Finally Bishop managed to pin Leo with his own katanas against the wall, having them crossed at his neck just above the shoulders. "I will find out what she is hiding. Even if I have to tear her apart to find it."

"She isn't hiding anything." Leo said in a voice full of rage, his body was shaking from the rage he was fighting. "Your taking your misguided fears out on an innocent person."

"There are no innocents in the unknown."

"There is this time you misguided fool!" Leo almost screamed at him. Bishop was a bit taken a back by the outburst and the katanas slipped slightly down. Leo took advantage of that and, ignoring the cuts his blades made on his shoulders, headbutted him. As Bishop fell back Leo pulled on his swords in Bishop's hands, once again ignoring the cuts his own blades made on him, pulling the man toward him and then kicked out with all of his pent up rage. Bishop flew into the far wall and slid to the floor, out cold.

Leo took a deep breath and came over to me, sheathing his now bloody katanas. "Damn it..." He whispered as he looked at my still bleeding cuts.

"Leo... it hurts. I'm so cold" I managed to get out.

"I know." He said softly. He tried to find something to cover and bandage me with but there was literaly nothing there to use. Bishop really didn't care about healing and comfort. "Damn." He said again. All he found was a thin sheet. He grabbed it and balled it up then placed it over my cuts the best he could. Then he cut the restraining straps free and used them to tie the sheet in place. Leo quickly scanned the area, he knew how much Bishop loved to collect samples, or maybe he had overheard the conversation, but once he found it all he gathered it up. He wasn't going to leave anything from me behind. He then picked me up and quickly left the area.

When we were a safe distance away he sat me down for a quick moment while he got his phone out. "Donnie. I need you." He listened for a moment. "I know that! Damn it! I found her." Again a pause. "Raph quit. I'm already beating myself up about it, just listen. I need you to give the phone back to Donnie...Just do it!" He sighed. "Donnie I need you to bring the van, a lot of warm blankets and first aid supplies. I'm on foot and she is hurt. Can you track me?...Alright. I'll be walking back. Meet up with me as quick as you can...I'll tell you later just hurry!" He hung up the phone and tucked it away. Leo then put all the things he took from Bishop's mobile Lab on the ground and proceeded to destroy everything. Then picked me up again.

He made his way swiftly through the woods with the road on our right. I had no idea how far away from the farm I had been taken. I was so cold now I was shivering uncontrollably and he felt it. "Hang on. Donnie is coming."

"So...so...c-c-cold." I stuttered. It was to the point the cold was numbing the pain away.

"Stay with me. Please stay with me." I heard his voice break slightly. I would have looked up at him but I still couldn't move. He took a deep breath and got himself under control. "Talk to me. Why on earth were you out there looking for me?"

"W-w-was w-worried." I could barely get the words out.

"Worried about what?"

"Y-y-you." Talking was growing harder. There was so much I wanted to say, to tell him, and I couldn't. God I was so cold...

He grew quiet again as he ran on. Then he suddenly stopped and collapsed to the ground, holding me as close as he could. I felt something wet fall onto my shoulder and a moment later I felt it again. It took my pain and cold numbed brain a few moments to figure out what it was, tears. "I'm sorry. God, I'm so sorry." Came his grief stricken voice.

"L-l-eo..." It was all I could get out, I just couldn't any more. The cold was sapping everything I had left out of me. I wasn't going to last much longer.

"Please hold on...Don't leave me. I love you..." His voice broke again and again I felt tears falling. I fought to hold on. If I lost this fight now in the cold I might not wake up, and we both knew it.

Suddenly there were lights on the road Leo was flanking. He snapped his head up and quickly moved us into some heavy brush, out of sight. The vehicle stopped on the road near us. "Leo!" Came Raph's voice through the woods. Leo sighed in relief and began to move toward the van. As he got closer Raph spotted him. "Give me one good god damn reason I shouldn't beat you within an inch of your life!" Raph flared, then stopped. "Shit..." He said as Leo stepped closer to the van, his mind taking in what his eyes were seeing. From the light spilling out of the van I could see blood pouring down Leo's chest. "Someone come help me!" Raph snapped as he made his way towards us. Donnie and Mikey shot out right behind him.

Mikey tried to take me out of Leo's arms but he wouldn't let me go. "It's ok Leo, I got her. Turn her loose bro." He said gently. Still he wouldn't let me go. Raph reached around and gently removed his arms from me and Mikey swiftly brought me into the warm van and began to wrap me into the blankets they brought. Donnie and Raph then brought Leo in, and as soon as they did Leo collapsed between his brothers.

"Shit." Donnie snapped as they eased him onto the floor. "Raph you drive us back, Mikey, hand me the med bag."

"What in the hell happened?" Raph asked as he spun the van around.

"Bishop. Donnie help her..." Leo said quietly. "He hurt her bad..." He struggled to steady himself, Mikey placed a blanket against his bleeding chest to try and slow his bleeding.

Donnie turned his attention to me and unwrapped the blankets. The sheet that Leo had used was now blood soaked. Swiftly he removed it and caught his breath in a hiss. "God damn it, Bishop..."

I had reached my limit. I tried to stay with them, knew I needed to but it was a fight I was loosing. Their worried expressions faded into a field of black.


	18. Chapter 18

It was the feeling of pain in my side and stomach that finally brought me back out of the darkness. I couldn't help a moan of pain as I came awake and felt a pair of arms tighten slightly around me. "Donnie, she's waking up." I heard Leo's voice say quietly. I opened my eyes and found myself laying on the couch propped against Leo, with his arms carefully around me, covered in blankets. After being so cold before the warmth from the blankets and from Leo was a welcome relief.

Donnie was walking over to me and knelt down. "Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Hurts." Was all I could get out of me. Those cuts really did hurt like a son of a bitch.

"Hang on." Donnie reached into the bag he had sitting on the floor next to the couch. He took out a needle and a bottle and filled the needle with the fluid. He then injected it into the IV he had hooked into my arm. "You guys are so lucky that I carry all this crap around with me." He grinned. "Give it time to work." He then looked at Leo. "Let me see your hands." Leo pulled his bandaged hands out from under the covers and held them out for Donnie. He undid the bandages and looked them over. "They are healing fine. Don't see any signs of infection." He then rewrapped Leo's hands. "I'll check on your cuts when she is ready to move. That and I want to make sure she can move. I don't trust that crap he put into her system last night."

"I thought you said you didn't find any trace of it left in her." Leo said sliding his arms back under the blanket and around me.

"I didn't. But I still don't trust him."

Mikey and Raph came in from outside. "We found her stuff. Bishop had it dumped in the woods near the road." Mikey said holding my clothes in a bundle under his arm.

"Bishop hightailed it out of here." Raph added. "Along with what was left of his men." Then they noticed I was awake and their smiles lit up the room. I smiled back at them.

"Yes she is awake and no she don't feel to hot. Just leave her alone and let the pain killers kick in." Donnie told them.

Raph chuckled then looked at Leo. "You want to explain to me how in the hell you took out three hummers full of troops and Bishop's lab truck? All on your own?" Even I was shocked to hear that one. I knew Bishop had more troops than what I knew of in the truck. Hell I ran into them last night. I just thought that they had left earlier or something. But Leo took them all out? I swallowed real hard. I felt Leo tighten his grip slightly again.

"And how did you even find her?" Mikey wondered. "We thought she was just lost in the woods."

Leo sighed from behind me. "Not now guys. I'll tell you later I promise."

Raph looked like he was about to say something but I guess Leo gave him one of those looks and he let it drop. By now the pain was starting to fade and I was able to relax against Leo, resting a bit easier. Donnie caught the movement. "Pain going down." I nodded. He turned to the others. "Out." He said pointing to the door.

"But we just came in!" Mikey said.

"I need to check her wounds. Out!"

Raph grabbed his brother by the arm. "Come on. We'll go help out the others in the barn." Then he pulled his little brother back outside.

I realized then that I was still bare ass naked under the blankets. I couldn't help the blush. Donnie caught it and chuckled. "No I'm not going to pull the blankets off of you all the way."

"Why am I even still naked?"

Donnie's look got serious. "Because you almost froze to death last night. Skin on skin was the best way we had to warm you up. Or should I say turtle on skin since Leo wouldn't let anyone else do it."

"And once you were at a stable temperature we didn't want to risk waking you up." Leo added.

How can you argue with that mother hen logic? I just sighed. "Alright. I'll let you slide. This time."

Donnie smiled. "Don't worry I got some clothes sitting here for you. Let me check you two first then I'll leave so you can get dressed. Now can you sit up? I want to check Leo's cuts first and your laying on him."

I carefully sat up, Leo helping me keeping covered by wrapping the blanket around my back. "Ok. That's good. You can move on your own again. Just hang tight and let me check Leo real quick." I turned around a bit, carefully, so I could watch. Donnie took off his bandages and I couldn't help but bite my lip. Leo had two nasty looking gashes, now stitched up, on his shoulders that ran over his collarbone. And he had carried me how far like that? Donnie checked to make sure they were healing alright and then put clean bandages on him.

"Your turn." He said to me. With Leo's help I laid back down against him. Donnie moved the blankets just enough to expose my side and stomach and then carefully removed the bandages. I looked down and had to hold back tears at the sight of the large gashes on me, that were also now stitched up. Once more I felt Leo tighten his grip slightly and I calmed down. Donnie quickly but gently wrapped me back up, then pulled the blanket back down. "Still oozing a bit. Your going to have to lay still a while longer. As soon as it stops we'll go home." He reached down again and handed me some of my clothes. "Here, you can get dressed now. I picked some things that shouldn't irritate you to much."

"Thank you Donnie."

"No problem. Leo your able to help her?"

"Shouldn't be a problem."

"Ok, I'll go out to the barn then with the others so she can get dressed." He got up and left the room.

With Leo's help I was able to get dressed in the sweats Donnie had picked out for me. As careful as he was I was still hurting again by the time I finally got the last item on. Even though he didn't have to anymore he pulled me back into the same position I was in when I woke up, propped up against him. I was breathing heavy from the pain when I settled back down.

"You alright?"

"It hurts." I told him quietly.

He was quiet for a moment. "I'm so sorry." He finally said.

"Leo-"

"No, let me finish." He took a deep breath. "Out of all of them we have to face on a regular basis, Bishop scares me the most. I know what he can do and has done. When I saw him in the ally that day and realized it was you he was after..." He choked up and had to calm himself again. "I let my fear of what he could do to you control me. I blamed myself, if I would never had kissed you that night maybe none of this would have happened. If I could have been stronger then he wouldn't be interested in you now. I lashed out at you for the anger I felt towards myself. I am so so sorry." The last few words came out in a whisper.

"Leo it's just as much my fault this happened. I wanted you that night just as bad. And honestly I would do it all over again. Even after what happened last night." I relaxed into him a bit more the pain subsiding again now that I wasn't moving. "How did you find me last night? No one knew where I was. And where in the hell were you all day?"

"Meditating. I was at it the whole day. After the fight in the lair I knew I was getting out of control. I was trying to find peace within myself, to come to terms with the fears I had." He sighed. "It wasn't long after sundown when I felt something was wrong, very wrong. And I think I had help figuring that out. A certain individual gave me a good mental kick in the ass and pointed me in the direction I needed to go. I caught up with the convoy just as they were pulling out. I was able to get onto the last truck and I made my way up to the lab truck which was in the lead. I felt it was taking to long, I had to take them out one by one. When I got to the lab truck and heard you scream, I thought I had lost you..." He choked up again.

I shifted slightly to look up at him. He had tears in his eyes. I could tell he wasn't done and I gave him time to finish, this was something he needed to get off of his chest. "Then I saw you laying there, covered in your own blood. The thing I had feared the most was happening, and I couldn't stop it from happening. I lost what little control I had, I felt like I had failed you. And I almost lost you for that failure. I had never been so scared as I was out in those woods last night, I could feel you slipping away and there was nothing I could do. If the others hadn't shown up when they did..." He closed his eyes and tears were now freely pouring down his face. I turned over the best I could and held him. He wrapped his arms gently over me. We laid like that for awhile, letting this simple contact wash away the last few days of doubt, anger and fear. We would heal from this and we would move on, stronger than before. I was starting to get drowsy now and he could tell. He carefully shifted me so I was laying on my good side instead of half on my stomach as I was now. He then reached down and pulled the cover over me. Then once again he wrapped his arms around me to hold me steady while I slept. Snuggled next to him I was safe and warm and I soon drifted off to sleep.

Once again it was the pain that woke me up. I opened my eyes and noticed that it was now dark outside. There was a fire burning in the fire place and the others were scattered all over the living room. I hurt to much to move but Leo knew I was awake. "Donnie just put some more pain killers in the IV for you. Just hang tight." He said softly. I just nodded slightly and closed my eyes again, waiting for the pain to fade.

"Is she awake?" I heard April ask Leo.

"Just woke up."

"Let me go ask Donnie if she can have something to eat." I heard her move towards the kitchen.

The pain started to fade again and I opened my eyes. I smiled as I noticed the kids sleeping in front of the fireplace. Apparently a day of work on the farm tuckered them out. "What did you tell them?" I asked softly.

"I told them you tripped over a tree root and fell on some branches." Mikey said.

"Oh great. Now they think I'm a clutz." I laughed softly.

Mikey flashed me a grin. "It was that or you got attacked by a deer."

Donnie came out of the kitchen. "Hey. The pain meds kicking in yet?"

I nodded. "Ok let me check real quick." He pulled up my sweater just enough to free up my stomach and undid the bandages. "Looks good. Let's get something to eat in you then we can go." He wrapped me back up and pulled my sweater back down. He stood up and looked over to Casey and Raph. "You got the van set up for her?"

"Yeah. She's got a nice bed to lay on in there." Casey said.

"Go ahead and start loading up." Leo told them. "I want to get back, I'm not sure if Bishop will come back or not. I don't want her here like this if he does. I'll be out in a minute to help."

"You just be careful you don't rip your hands open." Donnie told him as the others got up.

April came out of the kitchen with some soup. Leo and Donnie helped me sit up. I didn't hurt right now but I was getting stiff. Once I was Sitting April handed me the bowl. I was surprised to find myself very hungry. Leo and Donnie then went to help the others pack up. April sat down next to me as I ate. She sighed. "Well this trip was a bust."

"Yes and no." I told her.

"You know something I don't know?"

I looked at her. "Sometimes it takes something this bad to bring out the good things in your life. Yes I got hurt, but I cherish all of you a lot more now. You all have done a lot for me the past day."

She smiled. "Everyone else would sit there and hide behind the fear of what happened. You turn it into something positive."

"I refuse to hide behind fear. What is the point of it? I just survived one of the most frighting experiences in my life. I could let that cripple me, but I won't. I have to much to live for."

"Well said. I'm going to finish up in the kitchen. Let me know if you need me."

I finished my meal and just sat on the couch and leaned my head back. I was still tired, probably take me a few days to get over that. April cam back and took the bowl back to the kitchen to wash it out before we left. Mikey and Casey came in and gently carried the kids out to the waiting warmed up car. Leo came in. "You ready to go?"

I just nodded. He helped me up and we made our way out the door. We were almost to the van when Leo stopped and turned, pulling me behind him. He then pulled out a katana, the others were soon gathered around us with weapons drawn. April and Casey were standing next to the car, watching over the kids. I looked over to what had gotten their attention. Bishop was standing there. I couldn't help but tremble a little at the sight of the man who had caused me so much pain the night before.

"Leave her alone, Bishop." Leo told him. "I think you lost enough trying to take her. How much more are you willing to lose?"

"I have decided the cost is to high for my curiosity. I will take your word that she is safe, since you went through the effort of pretty much wiping out the entire group of men and four vehicles I had brought, and all on your own I might add, just to get her back. But I warn you, if she does prove me right and is a threat in any way, I will not rest until that threat is eliminated.

Leo narrowed his eyes. "I told you before, the only threat she poses is the one you create. Leave her alone or you will have the fight of your life on your hands."

"For now, I will. You just better hope you are right, Leonardo." Then he turned and walked away.

Leo looked at Donnie. "Check everything over. And I mean everything barn, house, cars all of it." He said quietly.

Donnie nodded and went to work as Leo watched the departing form walk away. Once again Leo's instincts proved to be spot on because shortly after Bishop was out of sight Donnie found a bomb hidden under the van. He quickly disarmed it and then took it safely apart.

"When we get on the road ditch the pieces. I don't want nothing of his coming back to the lair." Leo told him.

Donnie nodded. "Let me check everything else to be sure. The van and car are safe. I just don't want him to blow anything else up."

Leo nodded. Then once again he started to help me to the van. I got in and he helped me lay down. It took Donnie awhile but he finally gave the all clear. It was late when we hit the road back to town. We made a brief stop for Donnie so he could throw Bishop's present into a river. Shortly after that I found myself slowly drifting off to sleep and I slept through the rest of the uneventful trip back.


	19. Chapter 19

I sighed, I wasn't allowed out of bed again, sometimes they took the mother hen bit to far. I didn't want to be stuck in bed anymore, I had already been there all day and it was now early evening. I wanted to be able to get up and move around. Donnie had already given me my pain meds so I wasn't feeling to bad but I was bored out of my friggin mind. He had taken the IV line out earlier and I had more freedom of movement. Well, they weren't here so I got up and went into my living room.

I sat down at my desk and fired up the computer. I figured I could write on my fanfic stories, I didn't have anything better to do anyway, the kids were pestering their grandparents today. Mikey had told them the 'Vicky tripped on a tree root' story after we got home last night so they took the kids for me. Mandi was going to come get them later and take them for a few days, Mom and Dad had to leave later and would be gone for a few days on one of Dad's rare buisness trips. Jim was out helping our elderly neighbor, like he usually does. He didn't have any family nearby so we kind of took him in, especially my brother. Jim took every chance he could to help the old man out and today looked like he was going to be there awhile, maybe even spend the night. I would be all by my lonesome the way it looked, besides my mother hens that is.

I sat there wondering what to write. I had a few ideas but wasn't sure how to bring them to life. Storytelling wasn't as easy as it used to be for me. Once you live with the real thing the stories just seem kind of...well...made up. I didn't have any good way of writing anything at this point. I sighed and just gave up on the story writing for now. Maybe later I would come up with something. But that still left me with the boredom I had to deal with.

I moved over to the couch and turned the tube on and after flipping through the channels and not finding anything I gave up on that too. 'Fuck it' I thought, 'I'm going to go get the tree.' And so I got up and put my coat on, then went outside to the shed where I kept the Christmas tree stored. I opened it and went inside. Go figure the stupid thing would be on the top shelf. I decided to dig around for the decorations first, I really didn't feel like reaching up there and Donnie would have my hide if I tore my stitches open. I sighed and began to dig around all the crap I had in here. I really need to clean this thing out.

Finally I found the box I was looking for and go figure, it was buried under a bunch of junk. I just couldn't win for losing today. I began to clear the crap off of the box. I think I violated a unspoken rule of shed physics though when the pile of crap began to shift, I stared at it in frustrated disbelief as it all began to topple towards me. I managed to back away from the falling mess only to bump into something behind me.

"What on earth are you doing out here?" Came Donnie's frustrated voice from behind me. Shit...I just got busted.

"Looking for my Christmas stuff." I told him as I turned around. Leo was standing there too. Great, double busted.

"Your going to rip your stitches." Donnie replied.

I sighed. "I just had to do something. I couldn't stand just laying in bed. I thought that I could handle getting the boxes."

"Yeah that looked like it was going well." Donnie shook his head. "Your a stubborn person."

Leo chuckled. "Your just now figuring that out? Well we might as well help her since we are out here anyway." He looked around. "You really need to clean out your shed." I envied him and his mutagen filled blood at that moment. His cuts were healing rapidly and he was almost fully functional again. I still had a ways to go. Though Donnie did make sure he got his rest too, as I heard from Mikey. The main reason Leo was used for my body heater back at the farm was so that Donnie had an excuse to keep him in immobile for the sleep he needed to heal. Slick trick on Donnie's part. I guess that's why he's the smart one.

"Oh hush." I muttered at him. I showed them the boxes I was trying to get and they got them out for me, with more stuff falling down. Donnie couldn't quite dodge an open box in the tight confinement of the shed and he had a junk shower, followed by the now empty box landing on his head. "Yeah, you really need to clean your shed." Came from under the box. I laughed as he lifted the box off of his head.

They finally got the boxes out and carried them in for me, placing them in an out of the way corner in the living room. "Don't let me catch you putting this stuff up on your own." Donnie told me. I stuck my tounge out at him and sat on the couch. He just shook his head. "I give up." He muttered.

"Guys! There is an alarm going off!" Mikey yelled from the closet now portal room door. Leo and Donnie took off. Sheesh I could have at least gotten a see ya later or something...

Once again I found myself alone and bored and my thoughts started to wander and I actually was a bit on edge honestly. I thought about the events that happened over the last week, there was always something going on with the guys but this time it had hit a bit closer than that. I was glad Leo was pretty much back to his old self again but it was the reason he got into that state in the first place that had me thinking. I could handle bad guys trying to beat them up, hell I grew up with it being that way, and I didn't mind helping them if it was needed. This time, however, it was different. It wasn't the guys that had been the target, it was me. Despite what I had told April about not going to live in fear over it, I couldn't help feeling a little uneasy as I sat there alone. The same incident that had made Leo face his demons had brought me my own. I felt so isolated now living out here where I used to feel completely at ease.

The front door opened and Mandi came in with Dennis "He doesn't want to go with me. He wants to stay here with you." She told me.

"That's fine. I think I'll be alright with him."

"You sure?"

I just nodded.

"Alright. I'll see you in a few days."

"Thanks, Mandi."

"No problem." She smiled "You know I love having them around. I'll catch you later." Then she was out the door.

"Well kiddo, it looks like it's you and me tonight. The guys are out right now." I told my son.

"That's fine, Mommy." He replied. We spent the evening building with his legos, that kid had an imagination on him. He could build stuff with those silly things I never would even dream about building. He was doing a pretty good job of building the guys' van when my phone rang. I rolled my eyes when I noticed the number. It was David, my ex. I really didn't want to talk to him right now so I answered and handed it straight to my son like I usually do. It was about time for his once a month conversation anyway. I sighed, I wish he could understand just how much his children missed him.

Dennis happily took the phone from me. "Hi Daddy!" Then his face fell. "Oh, ok." He handed me the phone back. "He wants to talk to you."

Now I was pissed. He couldn't talk to the boy for five fucking minutes? I took the phone from Dennis and went into my room with it, I didn't want to have this conversation on front of my son.

"You couldn't talk to him for a few minutes?" I snapped into the phone.

"I don't have time, I'm packing."

"Packing?"

"Yes I'm packing. I'm moving to California tomorrow."

"And you are telling me this now? You are going to leave without even telling them goodbye?" I almost shouted into the phone. "What in the hell is wrong with you!"

"I don't have to explain myself to you."

"No, but I have to explain to them that their father just up and moved to another state and he don't give a rat's ass about them enough to even spend time with them before he goes!" I was beyond pissed now. Suddenly I heard the sound of legos hitting the floor and I turned to see my son standing there, with tears in his eyes. His turtle van was now in pieces on the floor, forgotten, as he turned and ran out of the house. "God damn you, David. I hope your fucking happy." Then I hung up, dropped the phone on my bed and ran out the door after my son.

I looked around when I was outside, I had to find him. It was cold, dark and coyotes were a nuisance in this area. They repeatedly took down calves and smaller livestock, a little boy wouldn't be hard for them to pull down if they were so inclined. By the time I got outside he was already out of sight of the immediate ring of the porch light. "Damn it..." I killed the light so I could see better. He was out in the field, running toward the treeline which was quite a distance away. I ran after him. Damn that little boy was fast...

I had closed the distance to less than half way when I felt a burning pain in my side, my stitches were pulling loose, I could tell. I blinked the tears of pain away and kept running, I had to catch him, unfortunately though the terrain didn't work in my favor. It was hazard to walk in this crap at night, running was down right stupid. The fields were covered in rabbit holes and other trip hazards and I found one of them. I stepped down and I knew I was in trouble as soon as my foot didn't stop where it was supposed to, instead it kept going down and my momentum kept carrying me forward. I felt pain shoot out from my ankle and I hit the ground hard. Now I felt an even more intense pain in my already hurting cuts and I felt a wetness under my clothes. I struggled to get up, I had to get him, I refused to leave him out here.

Suddenly two shadows shot by me in the dark and a set of hands grabbed me before I fell again. "Are you ok?" I heard Raph's voice ask me in the dark.

"No, I need to get Dennis..." I was so pissed at myself at that moment.

"Leo and Mikey are going after him. They will get him." He put his arm around me to support me and felt my now wet sweater. "Shit...Donnie!" He yelled across the field.

"I'm right here Raph." He said from behind us.

"I think she ripped her stitches open."

"Get her back inside, now." Donnie turned and ran to the house. Raph picked me up and followed his brother.

"Dennis..." I had tears in my eyes now.

"It's ok, Vicky. They will find him."

Raph got me into the house and kept going until he was in Donnie's lab, where he was already gathering the things he needed. He lifted my sweater up and hissed. "Damn... You tore it all back open again." It was starting to hurt like a bitch again too. Well, at least I wasn't almost an ice pop this time.

"I think she hurt her ankle too, Donnie. She was having trouble standing earlier."

"I'll look at that later. I've got to stop the bleeding first." He began to work. "I'm going to put you under. What I'm going to have to fix this will hurt like a son of a bitch and I'm not sure a regional sedative will work." I just nodded. It hurt now just as bad as it did the night Bishop made those cuts. He was inserting an IV line back in my arm when Leo finally came into the lab.

"We found him. He's a little cold and upset but he's fine. Mikey has him right now." Then he got a good look at me. "Shit... What in the hell happened tonight?"

"She can tell you later, here in a real short while she won't be awake. I need your help. Raph, out." He shot something into the IV line as the big guy was starting to leave.

"Hold up a sec Raph." Leo said and his brother turned. "Can you go get her some clean things to wear?"

"Sure thing, Leo." Raph then left the room.

Donnie and Leo started to work on me then but I was already to the point of fading away and shortly after I was out, the sedative doing it's work.


	20. Chapter 20

I woke up still in Donnie's lab, on his lab bed and covered in a blanket. I looked at the clock on Donnie's desk and noticed is was about four in the morning now. Donnie was passed out in his chair, his feet propped up on his desk and his head propped up on his hand. I was hurting like hell but I really didn't want to wake him up. That was settled for me when there was a loud crash in the living area, which resulted in Donnie coming awake and promptly tipping over. "What in the hell!" Came from the floor.

"Mikey! Why do you always insist on skateboarding in here!" Raph yelled.

"I was in a hurry! My show is on." Seriously? He skate boards to watch TV at four in the morning?

"Yeah, well it's not going to be like you can watch it now. You just demolished the TV!"

"I'll go watch it in Donnie's lab."

"The hell you will!" Donnie got up off of the floor and slammed the lab door in his brother's face.

As much pain I was in I still couldn't hold back a small chuckle of laughter. It hurt like hell to laugh but I needed it.

"Aw man, you guys are no fun." Mikey whined from the other side of the door.

"Fun! I'll show you fun!" Raph growled. The next sounds coming through the closed door were of two large running turtles, accompanied by Mikey's screams and Raph's growls.

"Idiot." Donnie mumbled as he walked towards me. He seen the look in my pain filled face. "I'm sorry, I feel asleep and missed your next pain killer dose. I'll take care of it now." Quickly he prepped one and shot it into the IV. Slowly the pain began to fade.

"Where is Dennis?"

"Leo, took him for a walk in the tunnels. I guess he wanted to talk to the little guy to try and calm him down." Donnie looked at me. "What on earth happened? We had gotten back and wanted to see if you wanted to watch a movie with us and saw you chasing him across the field. You were lucky Mikey happened to look out the window when we walked in."

I sighed, then told Donnie what had transpired the evening before.

"Well that explains a lot." Leo said, walking up to the bed.

"How did it go?" Donnie asked him.

"I think he will be alright. He was hurt and confused but we had a long talk and he calmed down. He's sleeping in my room right now." Leo said.

I tried to sit up, and promptly got gently pushed back down. "Oh come on, I need to get to my place so I can call the school later. I don't get interdimensional signal here and I need to let them know he isn't coming today."

"You already tore them open once. I'm running out of places to put stitches. I'm not letting you walk around just yet." Donnie argued back.

Leo sighed. "I'll settle this right now." He picked me up. "Bring the IV if she needs it still, Donnie." He carried me back to my room, with Donnie carrying the IV bag and stand, and placed me on the bed.

"Stay put!" They both told me at the same time. "And get some rest." Donnie added.

"Alright, alright. Lord..." I collapsed into my pillows. "Honestly, I hurt to much to move anyway." Donnie glared at me with the 'You better not move' look, then left the room. "I'll be back to check on you later, I got a TV to fix. And probably a little brother to fix too" He said on the way out.

Leo also was about to go but I caught his hand. "Don't go."

He looked down at me for a moment, then sat on my bed. "What's the matter." It was more of a statement than a question.

"I don't know, I just don't want to be alone."

Leo gave me that penetrating gaze of his. "I see... Bishop got to you after all, didn't he?" Once again Leo saw right to the heart of the problem. Well, no use really trying to lie about it.

"Yeah, I guess he did." I said quietly.

"It's not completely unexpected you know, honestly we are surprised you are handling this as good as you are. You want to talk about it?"

I sighed. I wasn't sure how to put it into words, but Leo had opened up his heart to me at the farm, had finally let me in to see what had been festering inside of him those few days. If anyone could understand what I was feeling, it was him. "I just...I..." I took a deep breath to steady myself. "I just don't like being alone. I was alone when I was out there looking for you that night and that's how he even caught me in the first place. And when I was lying there, there was nothing I could do, no one there to help me. God I was so scared. The fact that I was there and I thought no one knew where I was and what he was doing to me... Every time I'm alone my mind goes back there, Leo. I can't help it. I don't feel safe in my own home anymore because it seems so isolated now. Being alone now means fear to me. I try not to let it bother me but, I just...can't help it..." Tears were in my eyes at this point.

He just sat there and watched me for awhile, his blue eyes seeming to mist up a little themselves. He then stood up and removed his gear and leaned his sheaths on the wall. Without another word he walked around the bed and slid under to covers next to me, carefully pulling me close like he usually does. His calming presence banishing the fear from me for the moment. We just laid there like that quietly for awhile. Finally I drifted off to sleep.

The blaring of the alarm clock woke me up with a jolt. I felt Leo's arm gently hold me down as my reflexes screamed 'get the hell up!'. "I'll get it." He said and slipped out of bed. He had just turned the noisy thing off when there was a soft knock on the door and Leo went to open it. "We got breakfast!" Came a cheery Mikey's voice as he walked in with Dennis.

I couldn't help but smile as Mikey placed the tray down on the nightstand. Then he and Leo helped me up to a sitting position, propping me up with pillows. Mikey then placed the tray on my lap and Dennis placed the cup of apple juice on it he had been carrying. He then crawled into the bed and snuggled next to me under the covers.

Leo was watching the little boy with a smile. "You alright today little buddy?"

"Yeah. I feel better." He smiled back at Leo.

"You still look a little tired." I told him. "Why are you even up so early? I was going to let you stay home today so you could sleep."

He looked down a little bashful. "I couldn't sleep. I wanted to say I'm sorry, Mommy." Mikey took that as his cue to leave. Leo however watched, his eyes thoughtful. "I shouldnta run off."

"Oh, sweetie." I wrapped an arm around him. "It's ok. I understand. Did you eat?" He shook his head no. "Why don't you go get something. I'm sure you must be hungry. You can come back when you are done."

"Ok." He scrambled back out of the bed again and went back up front. I could hear Mikey puttering around in the kitchen and soon Dennis' voice joined into the general kitchen noise.

"He's a good kid." Leo said, sitting back down on the bed.

"Did you put him up to that?"

"Actually, no." Leo replied. "That would have made it seem like this was all his fault. He was going through enough last night without me adding a guilt trip."

I sighed softly and he caught it. "It's not your fault either. I told you before you can't control what other folks do."

"Nothing gets by you, does it."

"Not much." He said with a smile. "You should know that by now. Now eat."

I was just finishing up when Donnie came in. His timing was perfect because I felt the tell tale dull ache of the pain meds wearing off. It wouldn't be long before it would turn into full blown this really fucking hurts pain. As he was giving me my meds Mikey poked his head in. "Little dude fell asleep at the table. I went ahead and put him to bed."

"Did he at least eat before he passed out?" I asked and Mikey nodded. "Thank you Mikey."

"No prob, here let me take that for you." He grabbed the tray and carried it into the kitchen.

"Honestly I think we could all use some more sleep." Donnie said yawning. "I don't think anyone of us got enough last night."

Leo nodded. "Might not be a bad idea. Go let Raph know we are going to skip training today."

Donnie nodded. "Right after I change her bandages."

I pulled the blankets out of the way and lifted my shirt up and waited patiently for Donnie to finish. "Looking surprisingly well." He said as he wrapped everything back up. "Considering what it looked like last night. Just please humor me and take it easy." I just nodded. By now I was getting drowsy again and didn't have the energy to argue with him about it. He caught the look on my face. "Go ahead and sleep. I'll come back later."

"If you need me, Donnie, I'll be here with her." Leo told him. Donnie nodded and left the room. I had one more thing to do though before I could crash. I grabbed my phone and called the school and let them know Dennis wasn't coming, then called Mandi and left her a voicemail to let her know he was home with me so she wouldn't worry. Leo then helped me settle back down and slipped into bed next me. Shortly after that I was asleep.

I woke up shortly later however to the feel of movement in the bed and groggily opened my eyes. Dennis was trying to worm his way into the bed. Leo apparently also noticed the little bed burrower and raised the cover and made room for him so he could lay down in between us. Then Leo covered us back up and wrapped his arms around Dennis and I. I smiled softly as I drifted back off to sleep.


	21. Chapter 21

When I woke up Leo and Dennis were both already out of bed but I heard them in the living room. I smiled as I listened to the tell tale rattle of the lego box. Apparently Dennis had managed to corner Leo into playing with him.

I tried to sit up and fell back into the pillows, gasping in pain. Yeah this time it hurt a lot worse, I wasn't getting up anytime soon. Donnie had won this round and I was staying in bed. Yay me...(can you feel the sarcasm?) I actually had tears of frustration in my eyes, I hate not being able to move. I just had to bite the bullet on this one I guess.

I did heal enough to move around on my own, it was a slow painful process though. After a few days I could wander my way to the couch though I still had to be careful. That made me feel a bit better, at least here I was more in the middle of things. I had that false sense of control even though Donnie and I both knew he ran the show right now. He was gracious enough not to be to smug about the fact. Twerp.

I did however notice a slight change in the family dynamics. Leo now seemed to be the one who involved himself more with the kids. Ever since that night, Dennis was pretty much glued to Leo when he was around. I thought Mikey would be upset about the fact, since he was normally the one who entertained the kids but he took it in stride. I even caught a knowing smile on his face.

Amy took the news about her dad leaving just as hard as Dennis did. And she was about to react the same way but this time Leo was already there and waiting for her. Before she even had time to storm off in tears somewhere Leo had picked her up and had taken her into her room, where they talked. She didn't glue herself to him like her brother did but there was also a connection between them now that didn't exist before. The bed burrowing had continued and that really shocked me. Neither one of them had done that since my ex had left, over two years ago. Now don't get me wrong I wasn't mad about it, quite the opposite really. I had kind of missed it, but it was the fact that they started to do it again that had me baffled.

Leo never did tell me exactly what he said to them and I honestly didn't want to pry. But I couldn't help but wonder. Something had changed, but for the better I thought. I just watched but I couldn't help but be confused by it all. Believe it or not it was Mikey that had adjusted my thinking for me.

"You've been looking confused lately." He sat down on the floor next to where I was laying on the couch. It was just him and I, the kids were at school and the others were out helping my dad. He was trying to clear some stuff out of the way so he could enlarge his goat pen before spring. It was Mikey's turn to babysit me. I really didn't need one physically anymore but I think Leo knew that I still wasn't ready to be left alone yet so he told Mikey to stay with me.

"I kind of am, honestly. I feel like I'm missing something very important here."

"Well, that's because you are." He told me. I glared at him. He just returned it with a grin. He leaned back onto the couch. "I'm not saying it to be mean. It's just your a bit close to the situation to see it."

"Enlighten me." I told him flatly.

He gave me another grin. "Ok I will. Think about it. You and Leo have fully accepted each other right?" I nodded. "You two have formed a family bond. That doesn't mean one has formed between your kids and him."

I looked at him. "What? They love him!"

"Of course they do, but as a friend. Have you ever noticed how Leo would always keep his distance somewhat?"

"Now that you mentioned it..." It was true, Leo had always stayed in the back ground when it came to the kids, I just never really noticed it. I looked at Mikey thoughtfully.

"He stays in the back ground because he doesn't want to interfere. He won't come between them and their father, even if he is a shitbag. Leo would never try to place himself between a father and his children."

I didn't know what shocked me more, the fact that I didn't see this myself, or the fact that Mikey did. Folks, don't ever underestimate him. He may act like a big goof but he is far smarter than we give him credit for.

"The situation has changed now." Mikey continued. "There is now a big gaping hole where one of their support pillars used to be, even if it was a weak one." He looked at me. "Leo is taking it upon himself to fill it. Their need for stability out weighs his want to not interfere. I think he is reaching out to them to let them know that even though their dad left them, Leo won't. He want's to give them what they need, and he is ready to do it."

I sat there and thought about that and I realized Mikey was right. "When did you get so smart, Mikey?" I asked him quietly.

"I drank out of Donnie's cup this morning." He winked. "Enjoy it while it lasts, I feel the effects wearing off." He let loose another grin.

Now that I had my eyes opened to what was going on it made a lot more sense now. They were reaching out to Leo and Leo was letting them in, trying to fill all the holes that were missing in their life. He wanted to be more to them than just a friend. And he took it upon himself to do it, just when you think you can't love that blue banded turtle anymore than you already did, he pulls something like this.

"You know," Mikey said quietly. "he had always wanted kids. This might be the closest he ever gets. I think he is more than ready to take that step." He stood up. "I'll go get supper started."

That night, finally, I was allowed to put the tree up. With help of course, Donnie wasn't about to let me do it on my own, so we did it all together. After we got everything on Leo picked up Amy, with my new found insight I couldn't help but smile and Mikey shot me a quick wink, and let her put the angel on top. Then Donnie turned it on. I have to admit it did look quite pretty.

The days passed with that anxiety that comes when it get close to Christmas. Kids were thrilled, cookies were being baked but what caused me headaches was trying to figure out what to get four large turtles. Everyone else was easy, as usual they had to be the difficult ones. I'd have to think on this one some.

It took time but I finally healed to the point where Donnie pretty much left me alone though my scars were still tender and I would feel a slight tinge of pain if I moved the wrong way. And I do remember a conversation I overheard between him and Leo about 'No bedroom antics. She's not ready yet.' I had to chuckle on that one...

The scars though, I could never get used to seeing those scars. Every time I looked at them it was a reminder of what had happened. Yes I was still struggling with that, not as bad anymore but it still bothered me. Would you believe I actually tried to hide my deformity from Leo? The one who saw me at my worst I tried to hide it from, that's how bad they bothered me. I absolutely refused to let him see me with my clothes off. It went on like that for a few days and I think he knew what was bothering me. How could I let him see those hideous scars? They would do the same thing to him that they did to me, bring back memories of Bishop. Finally one day I think he had enough of it and did something about it.

He caught me coming out of the shower late one evening. I reached for a towel to dry off, and to hide my scars. He reached out a hand and took it from me. "Don't." He said softly, his gaze meeting mine. "Don't hide from me anymore." He traced the scars with his finger. "I don't think any less of you just because you have them." He leaned down and softly kissed me. "And I love you to much to let Bishop contaminate what we have. If anything they remind me that I was strong enough to fight him to get you back."

I looked up at him. "How do you always know what goes on in my head?" I asked him.

He gave me that half smile. "It's my buisness to know."

"Yeah, well it's creepy." I grinned at him.

He laughed softly. "Get used to it." He leaned in to kiss me again but stopped when there was a knock at the door.

"Mommy! I gotta go to the bathroom!" Came the whine from Dennis.

Leo handed me my robe and I slipped it on. I opened the door to see Dennis doing the peepee dance. "Go..." I sighed and Leo chuckled. He shot to the toilet as Leo and I left the bathroom. "I so need another bathroom." I mumbled to Leo on the way to my room. Behind us the toilet flushed and the sound of stumbling half asleep feet told us Dennis was going back to bed.

"Well, technically you have two now." He said as we entered my room. He closed the door behind us.

"Yours really don't count." I told him walking over to the dresser. "I have to trek through my place and yours to get to it." I slipped out of my robe and opened a drawer to pull out a night gown. His hand reached out from behind me and pushed the drawer back shut.

"You won't need one of those tonight." He said softly in my ear then began to nibble on my neck. "I'm going to show you exactly how little those scars actually bother me." He then picked me up and carried me to the bed and softly laid me down. Leo propped himself over me and began to trace my body with his mouth, softly kissing and nibbling. I sighed and relaxed into my pillows at the feeling. "Donnie is going to fuss at you." I told him softly.

"Donnie can go sit on his staff. I'm not going to hurt you." He replied just as softly. "This is more important." He brought his mouth back down to my body. He didn't even shy away from my still tender scars but instead softly brushed his lips over them. The feeling of his warm breath on the sensitive skin made me shiver in pleasure. Leo found a way to make something uncomfortable to me and turn it into something pleasing. He took his time slowly letting me know just how much he cared about me, scars and all. I was starting to respond to his touch, soft moans escaping my lips and moisture building between my legs. By now I was more than ready for him but he still took his time grazing my skin.

Finally he repositioned himself over me and gently pushed himself inside, again I moaned as he started to move softly. He kept that gentle, soft pace not wanting to rush this, or push me to hard with my still sore areas. Even so I could feel the tension building inside me and soon I let myself go. Even this orgasm wasn't as hard as they usually were, just a soft feeling of tightening and mild waves of pleasure. It was as if my body reflected the mood he had set with his slow pace and responded with an orgasm that only caused me the mildest discomfort where a normal one would have more than likely hurt. How in the hell does he do that? He released himself inside me shortly after and I looked up at him in astonishment. "What?" He asked me, returning my look with slight amusement. "I told you I wasn't going to hurt you and I meant it."

"You, my dear Leo, I will never fully understand. You never cease to amaze me." I told him with that same baffled look on my face.

"And I intend to keep it that way." He leaned down and kissed me then he laid down next to me and pulled the cover over us. I snuggled up next to him. After that night my scars on my body never really bothered me again. I still felt that sense of anxiety when I'm alone but that would take more time to heal.


	22. Chapter 22

I sighed as I finally got the last present wrapped. It took me awhile but I finally got something for everyone and I was tired of wrapping presents. Christmas was just a couple of days away now and the upcoming visit of Santa Claus was wreaking havoc on my bedtime routine. The kids were to the point hey were to excited to go to sleep. I can't tell you how many times one of us have to poke our heads into their rooms at night to tell them to go to sleep, only to be giggled at as they hid under the covers. Leo's patience was tested a lot in those last few days. The result was me wrapping stuff at two in the morning to make sure they were asleep so I could wrap it.

I looked down at the blue bowed present I had just wrapped, I couldn't help but feel a bit nervous about it's reception in a few days. My first ever Christmas present to him and I was hoping he would like it. I placed it next to the other color coded presents I had wrapped. Each person had their own bow color, yeah I know tags would be easier but I like the color coding concept. Now that they were all safely wrapped I could let my guard down, a certain orange masked turtle had been caught snooping a few times already. I smiled as Leo and I caught him digging through my shed, that I had never got around to cleaning out. Leo had pushed slightly on something and it had set off a chain reaction and Mikey ended up buried in junk. Then Leo made him clean it up. "That's what you get for snooping." Mikey was told by his oldest brother.

I started to gather up the presents when Leo came up front. The guys had to go out again earlier and apparently they had just gotten back. "Need a hand?" He asked.

I nodded, quietly relieved to see him. I was still having problems being alone but I wouldn't let my fear hold him back from what he needed to do. "Please." He gathered some up himself and followed me to the bedroom where I had an open and empty plastic footlocker waiting for them. We carefully placed the presents inside and I snapped a lock on it, then hid my key. The things I have to do to keep snoopers away... Mainly the big goofy one.

Leo couldn't help a small chuckle. "Just a couple more days. Then you won't have to go through this for an entire year."

"Yay." I said flatly.

He laughed, then got quiet. "Casey invited us to go up to the farm again, right after Christmas." He watched me as he spoke. "We were planning on staying for about a week this time."

I stood there quietly, fighting with myself. On one hand I wanted to go, on the other the last time we went... I batted that around in my head for a little bit, then finally decided it was time for some new memories. I was going to go. "We'll go." I told Leo.

He pulled me close. "That's my girl." He said then kissed my hair.

Christmas Eve came with the typical excitement, cooking preparations for the next day and lots of threats to behave or I'm going to call Santa and tell him to leave their stuff at the north pole. A typical holiday at my place. It had even snowed a good amount the night before so everything was covered in about 2 feet of fresh, clean white snow. Somehow we all got suckered to play outside in it. Raph and Mikey braved the dangers of my shed and pulled out the sleds as the kids were plopping around all over the place making snow angels. Lord help you if you stepped on one. It was easy for the ninjas to dodge the immobile angels all over the ground, I wasn't having as much luck. "Mommy! You stepped on her wing! Now it's broken!" Amy fussed at me when I made the inevitable misstep. I tried really hard not to roll my eyes.

Then the snowball fights started and I can proudly say I instigated that one, but I hit the wrong turtle. I was going for Mikey as he was coming around the shed corner with the sleds but he saw it coming and ducked. Raph wasn't as quick. He stared at me in stunned disbelief with snow all over his face. "Sorry, Raph. I was aiming for Mikey." I gave him a big cheesy grin. "But hey, I'm just glad I could even hit one of you."

"You just wait. I'm going to roll you in the snow real good for that." He picked up a big fist full of snow and started to stalk in.

I let out a squeal and ran, very clumsily, through the snow. He didn't have that problem, friggin ninja cheater, and caught up to me really quick. He almost had me when Leo came diving in and plowed into his brother, landing them both into a snow drift. "Chill out, Raph." Leo grinned at him.

Raph was about to say something when both he and Leo got a snowball in the face. They turned as one to look at their now widely grinning little brother, and the two laughing kids behind him. Now Mikey was the target and he took off running, making the mistake of passing Donnie who promptly tripped him. Mikey landed face first in the snow and Leo and Raph were promptly on top of him rubbing his face in it. Right up until Donnie dumped a bucket full of snow on all of them. They quickly dragged him into the snow with them. Now it was a free for all, four turtles rolling around in the snow.

The kids and I couldn't resist, they were to easy of targets like that. We pelted them with snowballs. "Guys it looks like we are under attack." Leo grinned. Then they all stood up. Uuuh ooooh. The kids and I screamed and took off running, trying to dodge them as they took up the chase. I suppose us laughing so hard didn't help our evasive maneuvers much.

I felt someone grab me and spin me around, it was Leo. "You are so going to get it." He grinned. That grin was soon covered by snow as I smashed a handfull into his face. Leo let me go to brush the snow from his face but I then felt a cold blob go down the back of my sweater. I spun to face a grinning Mikey. "You asshole!" I told him as I tried to get all of the snow out of my clothes before it melted.

Raph and Donnie joined us, each with a laughing wriggling kid under an arm. By now we were all covered in snow and I could tell the kids were getting cold. "How about we call a truce and go inside to warm up." I said.

The kids didn't like that to much until Mikey added. "With some hot chocolate!" Raph and Donnie couldn't get them into the house quick enough.

That night cookies and milk were left for Santa, weather he was red masked or orange masked was still up for debate. I had to shush those two repeatedly to shut the hell up before the kids heard them arguing over who gets the cookies. Sometimes I wonder who are the bigger kids are here.

Finally the kids settled down for the night, took them forever but they finally fell asleep. I walked back up front and found the cookie argument starting again. I really didn't want to listen to them right now so I put my coat on and went outside. I figured Leo and Donnie could keep them quiet, well I hoped so anyway. The moon was full again and the light coming off of the snow was beautiful even if the snow in my yard looked like a battle field after today's events. I smiled as I remembered the fun we had that afternoon, it was just pure and simple fun and that was the best kind.

I heard a heated whispered conversation behind me in the doorway and I turned to look in time to see three heads duck back in, leaving Leo standing there alone. Then someone pushed him out into the yard. What in the world were they up to now? Leo made his way toward me. "Pretty night." He said when he reached me, looking out over the moonlight fields. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"Yeah it is."

We stood there for a minute just quietly looking out into the night. It was a peaceful moment, until someone threw a small snowball at him. I looked up at him to see him glaring back at the once again empty door frame. I heard the tell tale smack coming from inside. Ok now I knew something was up. I looked at Leo in amusement as he turned back to me, mumbling under his breath. Why did he seem so nervous?

He refused to meet my eyes but instead looked up at the bright moon in the night sky. "Remember the last time we were outside under a full moon?" I nodded as he looked down at me. "I never regret kissing you that night. I've been wanting to do that since we first met."

"What?" Came a whisper from the door way. "I didn't know that."

"Shhhhh!" Came two other whispers and another smack.

Leo glanced back at the door in annoyance then focused on me again. "I knew the first moment I laid eyes on you that there was something special about you, something that I had been missing." He took a deep shaky breath. Never before had I seen him so nervous, it was kinda cute. "That night we started something between us, something I now know I can't live without anymore." He was actually shaking a little now. Then to my surprise he dropped down on one knee.

"He's going to do it!" Mikey whispered.

"Shut up already!" Raph whispered back.

I barely heard them, my stunned gaze now firmly fixed on Leo. "I know we can't get married, for obvious reasons, but this means just as much to me as a marriage proposal would." He pulled out a small box and opened it. Inside was a plain gold band wrapped in small sapphires and diamonds. It was a simple and practical ring, one that wouldn't get hung up in a fight and also one that was very beautiful. "I would ask you to marry me, but I can't. So I ask you this instead. Will you accept this ring as a symbol of my love for you, a love that I want by my side as equal partners? Not just lovers...I want us to be more than that..." He trailed off, his nerves finally getting the better of him.

"So if she says yes, does that make her the coleader?" Mikey whispered. (smack)

Tears filled my eyes and I dropped into the snow next to him and kissed him. He was trying to offer the best he could in our situation. Of course us getting actually married would probably never happen, we both knew that. He had made it very clear though that if he could, he would. "Of course I do."

He took the ring out of the box and, almost dropping it because his hands were shaking so bad, slipped it onto my finger. "I love you." He said as he pulled me into a hug. "I will always love you."

"Just as I love you." I replied softly.

The next thing I knew we were being tackled by a very happy Mikey. "This is sooo cool! I got a sister in law!"

Raph and Donnie came out to get their little brother off of us. I could have sworn I saw tears in Raph's eyes as he helped me up, then he pulled me into a hug. "I guess a congratulations is in order." Donnie smiled also giving me a hug. I was getting buried in turtle hugs...

Leo smiled. "Come on, let's go inside before the tears freeze up on Raph's face."

"I'm not crying!"

"Yes you are, bro!" Mikey grinned at him, that argument lasted the whole way back inside.


	23. Chapter 23

The door burst open and Leo's quick reflexes saved me from a major embarrassment. During the night the blanket had slipped down, after doing some private celebrating of our own, and I was in no way presentable for my kids. As the door burst open the blanket shot back over me in a flash, sometimes it's nice to have a ninja handy. Suddenly two bouncing balls of energy were hopping up and down on the bed. "Mommy! Leo! Get up! Santa came!" Lord...the sun hasn't even come up yet...

Leo chuckled. "Alright you two. Settle down." I had to 'pfft' on that one... "We're coming." They shot back out of the room.

"Thanks for remembering to lock the door..." I said to him.

He just grinned at me. "I had other things on my mind."

We got up and I threw some clothes on then we went up front where the others were trying desperately to keep the kids away from the tree. It didn't look like they were having much luck. "Wait for your mom and Leo, guys!" Mikey told them as they tried to wriggle out of Donnie and Raph's arms.

I couldn't help but laugh at the sight. "Turn them loose guys." I told them. The kids were placed down and I swear you could have seen smoke coming from under their feet as they tore to the tree. They did remember their manners enough to give everyone else a present from under the tree first though. Then it was game on, wrapping paper off and soon the room was filled with squeals of delight, and not just from the kids either."

"This is awesome!" Mikey said. "Look it!" He held up the apron I got him. The writing on it said 'I'm all that _and_ I can cook.' "See someone here gets me." He grinned.

"I figured you might like that," I smiled at him.

"How can I not? It's the truth!"

"There goes his ego through the roof again..." Raph muttered as he opened his present. His eyes widened slightly as he carefully opened the box. He gently pulled out what was inside, with good reason, they were sharp as a motherfucker. In his hand he help two shurikan with his name and also the meaning of his name 'God has healed' engraved on them. "Thank you..." he said softly. Was he crying?

"You loose them inside of someone and I'm going to hurt you." I told him.

"Yes, ma'am." He said with a smile.

Donnie had a big grin on his face when he opened his. "I don't have this one in my collection yet!" He held up that book. It was a collection of all of Albert Einstein's writings, collected and put together by the man himself.

"I know. That's why I got it." I laughed. With in moments Donnie had the book open and was reading it.

I watched quietly as Leo opened his, I was a little nervous to be honest. He unwrapped it carefully, no tearing it open and throwing the paper on the floor for him, but lord the suspense was killing me... Just rip it off already! Finally he got the paper off and opened the box. Leo was a tricky one, he doesn't put much worth into material things so I decided to go with practical with a touch of sentimental. He lifted out the katana handguards I had made for him. One was inscribed with the initials of all of us, me the kids and his brothers, and on the other one was engraved 'Together we stand with you. You will never fight alone.' His hands actually started to shake and when he turned to me he had tears in his eyes. The others grew quiet as they watched him, they knew what it was already since I had asked them of their opinion on it. "Thank you." He said simply. "This means a lot to me."

"I'm glad you like it." I smiled at him.

"Mommy! This one is for you!" Amy dropped a present into my lap. Where had that come from? I didn't put that under there... The guys were grinning at me now. Sneaky bastards must have snuck it under the tree while Leo and I were...occupied...last night. I opened it up and inside was a pair of asps. I pulled them out, they were hand made by the looks of them. One was purple with orange trim, the other blue with red and each had a button on them. I pushed the button and they popped out to full length. Also inside the box was a belt to store them in. I loved them. "Did you guys make these yourselves?" I asked them a little stunned. They were so well made and beautiful, the brighter colors woven in a leaf and vine pattern on the darker colors.

"Yes. Took us awhile too." Leo smiled.

"I love them. Thank you. Now I need to practice using both hands."

"We can help you with that I think."

The rest of the morning was a flurry of new toys being played with, Christmas dinner being cooked and the occasional romp in the snow outside. All in all it was a good day. We somehow managed to squeeze my parents and brother into my house for dinner since the kids didn't want to leave their stuff to go to the lair. By the end of the day I was tired but in a good mood. I had almost forgotten about our road trip out to the farm the next day though and scrambled to pack some things while the others kept the kids occupied.

Finally it was time to say goodnights and get the little rascals ready for bed. My family made their way over to their house as I began the bedtime routine, accompanied by the typical complaints of "I wanna play with my toys!" and "I'm not (yawn) tired!". After struggling for over an hour I got them into bed and they promptly passed out before they could even get their stories. They were done, happy but pooped.

I wasn't in much better shape as I sat on the couch. Soon I felt myself dozing off as the guys were talking about the trip tomorrow. The next thing I knew I was being carried to bed then tucked in. It didn't take me long to completely fall asleep after that.

Early the next morning Leo woke me up. Well he tried to anyway, he had to resort to yanking the covers off of me. I really didn't want to get up, it was so nice and warm in the bed. "Come on, April and Casey are going to be at the lair in an hour."

"Can't you guys just carry me to the van, bed and all?"

He laughed. "Get up."

Mumbling I finally crawled out of bed and got the kids up. My son had as much of a hard time getting up as I did. Finally we were all dressed and had eaten. The guys had apparently taken our bags to the lair the night before so we were ready to go when Casey and April arrived. Once again we endured the long trip with two wiggly kids in the back seat. Yeah trying to take a nap like that is next to impossible and I was still a bit tired. Oh well...

Finally we made it to the farm and I was once again struck by the simple beauty of the place. Pretty as it was though I had an uneasy feeling being here. Not a something bad is going to happen but a something bad did happen and was trying to come back alive in my mind. I stood there for a few minutes just staring out into the woods, my mind going back to that night. I tried to bury it but it came back sharply in my mind and try as I might I couldn't shake it.

I felt someone take my hand. "It's alright." Leo said softly. "Your not here alone." He squeezed my hand softly.

I sighed and forced myself to turn away from the woods and Leo and I walked to the van to help unload it. The day passed quietly for the most part, we just spent most of the day talking and winding down from the drive. Mikey took the kids out in the snow sledding for a bit but that didn't last long either. They were tired too and it was starting to show, they were getting crabby. After supper we decided to all call it an early night and went up into the loft to get settled in. The kids were asleep almost as soon as their heads touched the pillows. I however couldn't sleep, even as tired as I was I laid there awake jumping at every noise. Finally sleep did win and I drifted off.

I was the last one to wake up the next morning, everyone else was already up and downstairs. eating from the sound of it. I could smell eggs and sausage in the air and my stomach was letting me know it was on empty. I got up and slowly plunked my way down the stairs.

"There she is." Mikey said. "We thought you were going to sleep all day."

"I thought about it." I admitted. "But I'm hungry."

Mikey got up from the table and went to fix me a plate. "I can make my own plate." I grumped at him.

"Oh hush and sit down." Raph said. I stuck my toung out at him.

"Mommy! That's not nice!" Great now I'm getting fussed at by my daughter. "You tell Raph your sorry!"

I mumbled something that resembled sorry and Raph just grinned at me as Mikey set a plate down for me. "Jeez you really aren't a morning person are you?" Casey laughed.

"Nope. I detest mornings." For some reason everyone thought that was funny.

After I got over my morning grumpiness the guys went out to train. The kids wanted to go watch them so I took them outside. It was a nice day, cold but not really a bitter chill. It was comfortable enough to hang out with the guys out there. We watched them warm up and move through their usual routine, then came the pair up fights. Today it was Doonie on Raph and Leo on Mikey and as usual I was awestruck at their movements. Damn I wish I could move like that...

After Mikey and Donnie got planted into the snow, to the delight of the kids, Leo looked around. "Who's up for a game of hide and seek, ninja style?"

"Sure, why not." Mikey said.

"Can we play too?" Dwnnis asked.

"Pleeeeeaaase" Amy chimed in.

Leo looked at them in amusement. "You sure?"

"Yes!" Came the duet.

Leo chuckled "Alright, pick your turtle you want to hide with."

Dennis went to Donnie and Amy chose Leo.

"You little turn coats." Mikey said.

"Mommy, you play too." Amy said. Why do I always get suckered into this stuff? "Please..."

I sighed. I really didn't want to go out in the woods but I didn't want to let my kids know I was scared either. Leo was watching me, he then met Raph's gaze and flicked his eyes towards me and back to him again. Raph nodded slightly. "Well you guys better hurry up and take off. Your mom and I are going to find you real easy if you just stand there." Raph said.

Laughing the kids dragged their partner into the woods, Mikey chuckling as he followed them. Raph looked down at me. "It'll be ok. I'll stay right next to you." I just nodded and we started to make our way into the woods. I knew right away the guys were cheating. Shortly into the woodline the kids tracks disappeared completely, then so did theirs.

"How the heck am I supposed to find ninjas that make their tracks disappear in the snow?" I asked Raph with a smile. I have to admit having the big guy next to me made me feel a whole lot safer.

"Good practice for you." Raph grinned back.

"Pffft. Like I will ever get that good. I'm never going to match you guys."

"Maybe, maybe not. You might surprise yourself."

"So is there a set area you guys usually do this in? Or are we going to have to walk all of these woods?"

"We have set boundries, but it's still big enough to hide in. It might take us awhile."

"Great." We moved quietly trough the woods, looking for any sign of out targets. That wasn't fair, usually when the kids play hide and seek they always giggle and give away their position. Someone was giving them ninja advice on how to be quiet. I was hoping for a quick game but it went on for way longer than I thought it would.

We came to a clearing that ran along the edge of the Jones' property line and Raph quickly pulled me back into some heavy brush. I was about to complain when I heard voices, I quickly clamped my mouth shut and swallowed my words. Carefully we peered out, there was a group of men moving around out their, and they were armed. Raph and I exchanged the 'What the hell?' look. Who on earth would be out here? In the middle of nowhere? Well, who besides us anyway.

Softly Raph pulled out his phone. "Leo, we might have a problem. Drop the kids off back at the house then meet us on the eastern clearing...Yeah, that one...Don't worry, we will." He hung it back up and tucked it away. Where in the hell does he keep it? Does he have pockets in his loincloth? "Leo says hang tight, he going to go round up the others and meet us here."

"Well I'm not going to chase them." I muttered.

Raph flashed me a grin. "You got your Christmas presents on you right?" I gave him that 'Well duh...' look and he chuckled softly. "I was just asking."

We watched them quietly as we waited for the others. They seemed to be waiting for something, or someone, themselves. We weren't quite close enough to hear what they were saying though. Suddenly Leo was croutching down on my other side and I felt Mikey and Donnie moving in behind me. The tell tale rattle of bats and hockey clubs told me Casey was there too.

"What's going on?" Leo whispred.

"We don't know." Raph murmured. "Can't make out what they are saying."

"Give me a sec." Donnie said quietly. He pulled up his arm display and plugged some earphones in it, then he listened quietly for awhile. "Not good guys." He muttered.

"What?" Leo asked him.

"Something about someone bringing an experiment and test subjects out here. Human test subjects."

"What on earth for?" I whispered.

"I'm not sure. We are going to have to wait. I'll keep listening. But anytime now there is a truck coming, maybe two. Keep an ear out."

"Casey who lives there?" Leo asked the masked vigilante.

"Nobody. The owners died a few years back and the place has been sitting empty. You think it might be Bishop again?"

I couldn't help but jump a little at the name, Raph and Leo caught it and turned to glare at him. "Sorry..." He muttered.

Donnie frowned. "I don't think it is. He wouldn't be dumb enough to come here knowing we pop in next door sometimes. I think this is someone we don't know."

Leo sighed. "Alright. We wait and see what happens." Raph sighed, waiting was not his strong point. Leo looked at me. "Do you want to go back?"

I thought about it for a moment. "No, I'll stay. If they are up to no good with human test subjects you might need someone non turtleish to try and get them out."

"She's got a point there." Casey said. "I'll cover her if it does get that far."

Leo looked at me a moment longer, not quite sure. "I'll be fine Leo. I need to do some good in these woods, to out weigh the bad..." I finished quietly.

Raph laid a hand on my shoulder and Leo took my hand. "I understand." Leo said. "We will all be here with you."

"You can bet on it, chicka." Mikey added.

There was nothing else that needed to be said, so we just hunkered down and waited


	24. Chapter 24

"Here they come." Donnie said.

"Why? Did they say something?" Mikey asked.

"No. I hear vehicles coming."

Sure enough the sound of vehicles was getting closer. "Stay down." Leo said.

"What did you think we were trying going to do? Get up and blow trumpets?" Raph asked him.

"Do you mind?"

"Not at all."

"Shhhhh. I'm trying to listen." Donnie snapped. The vehicles, two white vans and a sedan, had now pulled over by the waiting men. There was a brief conversation by the sedan and then the vehicles moved onward, the men following behind on foot. "We have to follow them. They are going to the main house."

Leo nodded. "Let's go then." He stood up and led the way through the woods. We made our way through the thickest part of the forest eventually making our way to the main house. When we got there they were unloading a large machine out of the first van. We watched as they began to move it to the barn. "What in the world is that?" Casey whispered as we once again ducked down behind some thickets.

"I don't know, but I don't like it." Donnie said.

"What do you mean you don't know, your the genius." Mikey griped.

Donnie glared at him, his pissed off eyes magnified by his glasses. "And your the idiot, so what's your point?"

"Will you two knock it off." Leo whispered not taking his eyes of the vehicles. They were now starting unload people, herding them out. I think we were all at a loss for words when we saw little children among the prisoners.

"What the hell is going on?" Raph muttered, rage filling his voice.

Leo laid a calming hand on his brother's arm. "Easy, Raph." He watched as someone got out of the sedan and went into the house, then focused his attention on the prisoners as they were herded to the barn. "We split up. Mikey your with me, we are going to see who this clown is and try and figure out what he's up to. Donnie see what you can do about that contraption. The rest of you see if you can get into that barn and get those people out of there." He looked around at us. "And be careful. Let's go." He moved off towards the house with Mikey beside him, then the rest of us made our way around to the backside of the barn.

The backside of the barn was near to the treeline so we were able to get pretty close while staying concealed. We all carefully looked the place over and noticed a door not to far from us. "I don't see any guards." Raph muttered.

"Good, that means we can go right in." Casey grinned.

"Slow down, meathead." Donnie said softly. "They have prisoners, I doubt they left the back door completely defenseless." Donnie raised his arm and did a quick scan, then cursed under his breath. "The guards are on the inside of the door. There are to many for us to take out without one of them shouting out a warning."

"Now what?" I asked.

Raph looked over the building again, then smiled when he noticed a window on the roof. "Donnie, up there." He pointed.

Again Donnie did a quick scan. "It's clear. Looks like we get to climb."

"I can't climb that." I said. "I'll splatter myself all over the snow if I tried."

"Your not the only one." Casey mumbled. "It's a sheer wall, I'm not that good."

"We'll carry you." Raph replied. "Just climb onto our backs and hold on."

Casey hopped onto Raph's back. I had to wait for Donnie to adjust his pack to make room for me then I followed Casey's lead. The two then began the climb up the wall. "Your choking me." Raph muttered to Casey.

"And what do you want me to do? Turn loose?"

"How about putting your fat ass on a diet."

"Kind of late for that now, you should have said that six months ago."

"Just get your arms off my neck and hold onto my shell, lard ass."

"Well you two hush?" Donnie looked over at them.

"Jeez Donnie, your starting to sound like Leo." Casey griped as he adjusted his hold on Raph.

"Someone has to remind you to shut your flaptraps."

"This is really going to end well if we all get caught." I hissed at them. "You guys chatter more than a room full of gossip mongers."

Somehow we made it to the window without getting caught and Casey and I slipped in first, followed by Donnie and Raph. We quietly made our way to the edge of the loft and looked down into the open space below. "Whoa.." Casey whispered. I agreed with him, the whole bottom portion of the barn had been completely redone, walls reinforced, floors were updated, it was full of computer equipment, it had more of a lab look and feel to it now rather than a barn. Cages had been added and they were now filled with scared individuals. In the corner of the room, go figure on the far side, stood the machine they had wheeled in earlier.

"Are you close enough to figure out what that thing does?" Raph quietly asked his brother. He had been looking around, they really didn't have much cover to work with here. The top of the barn was dark but the bottom area was well lit. There was no chance of getting down there without being seen.

"Not really." He looked at the support beams running across the barn. "But I think I can get close."

"We need a diversion to get those people out." Raph muttered.

"And we don't have much time to do it." Came Leo's voice softly from behind them as he quietly moved next to them, Mikey right behind him.

"What did you find out?" Donnie asked him just as quietly.

"That there are some crazy idiots in the world who watch to much TV." He said disgustedly.

"You mean like Mikey?" Raph grinned.

"Hey..." Came the predictable protest.

"That idiot, his name is Alan Jacobson by the way, is actually trying to invent some kind of teleportation device. He caught all these people to test out how different body sizes and mass would work with his machine. He plans on starting the tests within the hour."

"Is that even possible?" I asked. "That kind of technology doesn't even exist, does it?" Hell I didn't know either. There was a time I thought interdemesional portals wouldn't actually work...

"Idiots..." Donnie muttered. "The world is full of them. Let me get closer, Mikey I need you to come with me." Quickly Donnie made his way over the beam towards the machine with Mikey following. Once there Donnie fired up his wrist display, using Mikey to hide the glow from the guards under them. Even from this distance we could see that he was not a happy turtle. After a few moments they came back. "It won't work," He whispered after he came back, "if he does try he's going to incinerate those poor souls down there. We have to get them out of here and I need to get my hands on that machine to shut it down. I can't get into it from here, its protections are surprisingly good for a machine that is doomed to fail."

"Which brings us back to the question of 'How?' " Raph softly said.

"We need to find a way to get these guards out of here." Leo whispered. "And I'd like to kill these lights down there, that should darken the place considerably since there aren't any windows."

Donnie thought a moment, tapping a finger on his chin. "I'd have to blackout the whole compound. If I do just the barn they might get a bit suspicious but if I do all of it they will just see it as an unforeseen power outage."

"Can you do it from here?" Leo asked.

"That, I can do. It's fairly easy to hack into the records for the electric company."

"Still leaves us with all those guards though." I said. "And do you need power to disable that thing?"

"I'll open it up and rip out it's wiring. If we have time I'd really like to completely destroy it."

Leo looked down lost in thought. "We don't need to get all of them out of the way, just enough so we can handle the rest with out to much of a fuss."

"We could blow up one of their vans." Mikey said.

"You got anything on you to blow it up with?" Raph asked him.

"No." Mikey replied.

Casey grinned. "He might not...But I do." He reached into a pocket and pulled out a hockey puck, a hockey puck that looked very familiar to me. I groaned quietly.

"You've been watching turtle cartoons with my kids, haven't you..." I asked him

"Who says all ideas are bad." He grinned.

"What is it?" Raph asked.

"Exploding hockey puck." I told him.

Raph's eyes got wide. "I carried you up here and you had that in your pocket?!" He hissed. "Are you trying to blow me up?" Casey just grinned at him.

Leo also looked a bit wide eyed. "Next time let us know!"

Donnie just facepalmed. "Oh, boy..."

Leo took a deep breath. "Alright, since we have it let's use it."

"If it even works..." Donnie mumbled.

Leo ignored that. "Mikey, take Casey's new toy and get to the roof. As soon as the power goes out launch that thing at one of the vehicles."

Mikey nodded and pulled Casey to the side to figure out how to work the thing. Then he made his way back to the window and went out and up.

Leo looked at Donnie. "You take care of that machine. Raph and I will clear the back door, that will give them a free shot to run into the woods once we let them out. Casey, you and Vicky get those cages open."

I looked down. "Who has the keys?"

"That one." Casey pointed to the guard with a key ring on his belt. "We need to make sure he doesn't leave."

"He's standing fairly close under us." Leo said. "I'll take him out as soon as Donnie shuts down the power." He looked at Donnie. "Get into position and then shut it down."

One more time Donnie made his way across the beam. As he went Leo held onto me and moved as close as he could to the loft drop off without being seen, Raph and Casey were also ready to go down. We were ready. Suddenly the lights went out down below us. There were cries of surprise and that was the cue Mikey needed. An explosion sounded outside and the surprised cries turned into ones of alarm as men on the far side began running outside.

Leo then launched off of the loft. His aim was perfect has I heard a grunt from underneath us, he had landed right on top of the guard with the keys. Quickly I slid out of Leo's arms and grabbed the keys off of the guards belt. Casey grabbed my arm and together we ran towards the cages as the sounds of fighting erupted behind us. On the other side of the building came the sound of metal being pried open as Donnie began his task.

Casey and I reached the first of three cages and he covered me as I began playing guess the key. Finally I found the right one and the cage door opened just as the back door to the barn also swung wide. I told them to go out that way and they didn't ask any questions as they fled. I then moved on to the next one. By now there was a general alarm going off, men screaming orders and cries of alarm filled the courtyard in the front, I got the second cage open and more folks fled out the back.

By the time I got to the third cage my luck had run out, some of the guards had come back inside and noticed Casey and I right away. "Shit." I muttered as I struggled with the door. Casey began putting his hockey stick to use but he was getting over run fast. That is until Mikey dropped in next to him to help him out, thank god it was to dark to really see him. I didn't need even more scared people on my hands. I finally got the last door open and ushered the occupants out and they too made a beeline for the back door.

As the last of the prisoners left the barn the lights came back on, and I heard Donnie cry out in pain as the power ran through the machine again. I looked over to see him be flung back against the wall. Casey, Mikey and I ran towards him to help him up, he looked a bit dazed but seemed alright except for some minor burns on his hands. "Power wasn't supposed to come back on yet..." He mumbled, confused. Then he looked at the now smoking machine. "Uh oooh. Run! This thing is going to blow!" We took off for the back door as fast as we could with a half dazed Donnie. We didn't quite make it out before we heard the thing behind us go up. At the same time Leo crashed into me and Raph into Casey covering our bodies with their shells, Mikey had pulled Donnie down at the same time. Then the ceiling came down on top of us.

I think what saved our hides was the fact that were almost out of the building so not as much debris fell on us. Most of the destruction was on the other side of the building and there was the smell of smoke in the air as a fire raged over the debris on that side. We still were covered in a lot of crap though, and I mean a lot. "Are you alright?" Leo asked me, his voice sounding strained.

"Yeah, just a bit battered." Then I realized that his arms were trembling and he was holding himself up with apparently a lot of effort. I looked around him to see why. There was a very large support beam across his back along with other rubble and he was struggling to hold it all up. My eyes grew wide at the sight, if it had been just me I would have been crushed. I might still be, I wasn't sure how long he could hold it up. As it was his arms were already starting to tremble even more with the strain. This was to heavy for him to hold and I knew we were in trouble. Yes they are strong but not as strong as the movie made them out to be, this was another difference I had noticed early on. Leo wouldn't be able to hold this up for long.

I heard some rubble moving from some where outside of our pile and I knew someone was moving around out there. "Leo! Vicky!" I heard Raph's voice calling through the debris.

"Raph! Over here!" I called out to him. I heard movement again and more voices. Leo was trembling violently now, sweat beading up on his forehead and his eyes were closed with the strain. "Hurry!" I shouted.

Finally I heard something move over us, the sound of rubble being pushed aside. Daylight started to stream in to our dim little hole as they made their way to us. "Holy shit!" I heard Casey exclaim.

"Help me get it off of him!" Came Raph's reply. Slowly the beam and the rubble began to shift, until it was finally lifted off of Leo who finally collapsed next to me in exhaustion. "Get them out. " I heard Raph's now strained voice.

A pair of hands grabbed me and drug me out of the hole. I looked up to see Mikey reach back into the hole to pull Leo out. I was shocked at what I saw, there was a whole section of wall on top of the beam. "Why does he have to be so damn heavy?" Mikey growled as he strained to pull his larger brother out at the awkward angle. Finally he was able to pull him out and the others let the beam drop back down with a loud clatter.

I moved next to Leo. "Are you alright?"

He nodded weakly. "That was heavy."

"Let's get out of here." Donnie said looking at his wrist monitor. "We got incoming, police and fire trucks."

Raph picked up Leo and we high tailed it to the treeline. We found a secluded spot and Raph put Leo down. We stayed and watched while we let Leo catch his breath, none of us really wanted to leave without first making sure that those poor folks would be found. The rest of the goons apparently used the ruckus to bail, the sedan was gone too.

It didn't take long for the first of the former captives to come out of the woods, and he was followed shortly after by the rest of them. Quickly the responders realized they had stumbled onto something larger than at first thought and had to call in for help to get them all to safety. Finally we felt it was alright to leave. With Raph supporting a still wobbly Leo we made our way back to the farm.


	25. Chapter 25

The way back was slow going with Leo having to be helped. I was still amazed at the sheer amount of energy he had put out earlier. He was recouping pretty quick though and by the time we got half way back he was able to walk on his own again, much to my relief. Once we were far away from the neighboring property we even began to joke and banter around. All of us except Donnie anyway. He walked along, holding his slightly burned hands close to his chest to keep them from bumping into anything, with a look of frustration on his face. Something was obviously bothering him.

"What's the matter, Donnie?" I asked him as I paced myself next to him.

"The god damn power should not have come back on." He snapped angrily. That kind of shocked me a bit, this wasn't usually like him, he gets more irritated than angry. The others caught on as well. "There was no possible way for that power to come back on as soon as it did. I had every access to that property blocked to where it would have taken them hours to figure it out and get the power back running there. It should not have happened and I can't figure out why it did."

Leo looked at his brother, a bit worried. About his statement or about his anger though I couldn't tell. "This is really bothering you isn't it?"

"Of course it is! We almost got blew up because of it."

"You sure you just didn't overlook something?" Casey asked him.

Donnie stopped and fixed the meanest stare I had ever seen come from him at Casey. "I don't allow for mistakes when it comes to crap like that. You should know that by now."

Leo stopped and we all followed suite as he leaned against a tree for a moment to rest. "Ok then, let's try to figure this out. If you are sure this shouldn't of happened then what reason could there be that it did?"

"That's just it. I don't know." Donnie sighed frustrated. "The only way it should have happened is if I cleared it all out myself." Then his eyes widened a bit. "Or someone else did..."

Leo looked at him sharply, then narrowed his eyes. "What would be the odds of that happening?"

"That depends. If they didn't know about it before hand, very slight because they would have to figure out the right paths to get around my blockades. If they were expecting it though, and had some brains to work with, pretty high."

Leo looked at Donnie for a long while. "I'm not liking where this is going." He said softly.

"I can't think of any other way it could have happened, Leo" Donnie replied just as quiet returning his gaze.

Leo broke that gaze suddenly and scanned the woods with his eyes, something had suddenly set him on edge. He couldn't seem to find what he was looking for though and he frowned slightly. For some reason that concerned me, a lot. He pushed himself back off of the tree. "Let's get back." And he once again started walking toward the farm.

"So let me get this straight." Casey said as we walked. "Am I understanding you right, Donnie? They couldn't have turned it back on unless they knew you were going to turn it off?"

Donnie nodded. "They would have to be actively looking for it to get it back on so quick."

"In other words, they were expecting us." Casey stated.

I thought of something. "You know, those guys didn't show up until Raph and I were in the area. We were there first then they popped into the clearing, in plain view."

This time Raph frowned. "I'm with Leo on this one. I don't like where this is going either."

"Guys, I think we have been had...again." Mikey said.

Leo sighed. "I'm thinking the same thing, little brother. This whole thing seemed...silly. Dangerous, but silly. A teleportation device? Really?"

"It does seem kind of laughable." Raph added.

Leo stopped again, once more sweeping the forest with his gaze. This time I felt it too, there was something out there. "Donnie," He said very quietly. "can you run a scan?"

Donnie did as he was asked, well he tried to anyway. "Someone is blocking my signal." He muttered to Leo.

Once again Leo's eyes swept the woods as the feeling persisted. Then it was gone.

"Now I can scan, but there is nothing there." Donnie said.

"Get to the farm. Now. There is something very wrong out here." Leo said. He grabbed my hand and we all broke out into a run, Leo helping me keep my balance on the uneven ground.

"What are we running from?" Mikey asked confused.

"Nothing." Leo replied. "We are running to the farm and its current occupants." Even Mikey caught on to the point behind that statement, April and the kids were alone on the farm. We arrived a short time later, I was out of breath but the guys weren't even winded. I really needed practice. That however was not the thought on my mind as I burst into the house. Relief flooded over me as I saw April and the kids sitting on the floor in front of the fire place, playing a board game. They were fine.

Leo had come in right on my heels and the others followed him inside, they to looked relieved. April looked up at us and noticed our slightly battered and dirty condition and frowned. Leo motioned to the kitchen and she got up and followed him there while Mikey took her place on the floor. We tried to keep out composure around the little ones. Just because they knew the guys fought bad guys on a regular basis didn't mean that this time they needed to know that they were in danger. I now felt really stupid for bringing them out here.

Leo came back out of the kitchen with April behind him and joined the rest of us. "We are leaving. Get the vehicles packed up." He told us softly.

Raph and Casey went back out side to open everything up as the rest of us began grabbing stuff. I had just walked outside when I noticed that Raph and Casey both looked like they were about to spit nails. "What?" I asked them as I walked up.

"We aren't going anywhere." Casey snapped then pointed to the tires. They had all been slashed, by something very sharp by the looks of it.

Behind me I heard Leo curse softly. I turned to look at him, his eyes were blazing with a blue inner fire, he was pissed. "Donnie!" He shouted for his brother. The genius came out of the house, finishing wrapping up the bandages on his hands as he came out. He looked questionly at Leo as he walked up. "We have a problem." Leo pointed to the tires.

Donnie blinked in surprise as he took in the flat, and now useless tires. He walked over and bent down to look at them. "Looks like some kind of blade did this." He looked up at Leo. "They are completely ruined. We are going to have to get new ones."

Raph was cursing under his breath. "What the hell is going on?" He finally exploded.

"I don't know." Leo replied softly. For once he looked uncertain. "I really don't know." His eyes went back to the woods, searching. "Casey, will that old truck in the barn get you to town?" He asked over his shoulder.

"If we can get it running."

"You and Donnie see what you can do with it. We need to get into town and get new tires." He still had his gaze out in the woods. "I want to get out of here as soon as possible. The rest of you stay in pairs, do not go anywhere alone. And keep Dennis and Amy in the house with one of us with them at all times." He finally turned his gaze away from the woods. "Once we get those tires we are gone."

No one argued with him, except Raph. There was something very wrong and we all knew it. We just spent the rest of the afternoon trying to hid our situation from the kids as Donnie and Casey worked on the truck to get it running. It was an old busted up thing but it was all we had to get out of here. Once they could get it running Casey was going to run into town with one of the guys and raid a junkyard for some tires.

The rest of us spent a wary afternoon keeping watch but nothing else happened. That didn't ease the tension one bit though, especially on Raph and Leo. They started to butt heads on what to do.

"I say we go out there and go find whoever is out there!" Raph had snapped to his older brother.

"I'm not going to divide us up anymore than I have to, Raph. We have no idea what is out there, or even if they even still are out there. It's bad enough I have to send two of us out to get those damn tires." Leo replied. His temper by now was also starting to flare. They had been at this for a while now.

"Which is why we should be out there looking!"

"And what happens if they come here while we are out there!" Leo snapped back at him. "It's to risky."

Raph struggled real hard but he got control of his temper. Leo had a point and he knew it, he was just having a hard time dealing with the fact that we were right now forced to be cooped up. Anyone who knows Raph knows that this is the worst kind of torture for him, he was a free spirit who liked to come and go as he pleased. Put any kind of restraint on that and you were going to have one pissed large turtle.

Finally darkness began to settle over the landscape and for some reason this was increasing my anxiety somewhat. Anything could happen in the cover of darkness. Again I buried my fears as best as I could and got the kids ready for bed as if nothing was wrong when it approached their bed time. I decided to call it an early night myself and went to lay down with them in the loft. I didn't feel right leaving them alone up there, sure the guys were here but still...mother's instinct.

I laid there in the dark hoping that Donnie and Casey could get that damn truck running tomorrow. They had given up as evening settled in in frustration. Apparently it was taking more work than they thought it would. Donnie assured us they would be right back on it first thing in the morning. Leo grumbled a bit at the delay but was forced to accept it, it was getting cold out there and they had been out there all afternoon. They needed to warm up.

Suddenly there was a slight sound over by the loft window and I couldn't help but tense up as I looked. Then relaxed as I made out two dark familiar out lines against the dim light coming in. "God your an idiot.' Leo whispered to his brother. I frowned a little, his voice seemed a little harsh. I wondered if the stress was getting to him finally.

"Oh, shut the fuck up. It's not like the bitch heard me." Came Mikey's voice. This caught my attention, his voice seemed a bit off also. And what was his problem anyway? Call me a bitch will he... I sat up fully intent on giving that loud mouth a piece of my mind. They noticed the movement and began to walk toward me.

"And what the fuck crawled up your ass tonight?" I hissed at Mikey as they got closer.

"Nobody yet, but I'd like to crawl up yours." Came his reply.

This stunned me a bit and I turned to Leo. "What the hell is wrong with him?"

There came a soft cold laugh. "Absolutely nothing." He said as he came closer. "He is the same pain in my ass he always is." I got a chill as I listened to him. There was something seriously wrong...

"Are you guys alright?" I asked him.

Now he was next to my bed. "We are just fine, your not going to be though." Quicker than I could react his hand flashed out and hit me upside the head. Darkness overcame me before I could even scream.


	26. Chapter 26

I came to and found myself slung upside down over someones shoulder, it seemed like we were outside traveling in the woods. Lord my head hurt. I tried to focus through the pain in my head and I let out a slight groan.

"Bitch is wake." Mikey's voice came from right next to me. "You didn't hit her hard enough." Suddenly I remembered what had happened. Leo had hit me! What the fuck? Could the stress of today made him snap? And Mikey too? It didn't seem possible to me, they had been in way worse situations than that before. I tried to tell Mikey to put me down and found myself gagged. So I tried to slap him and found my arms bound. Well wasn't this great...

"I just wanted to knock her out you fucking imbecile, not cave her skull in." Came Leo's reply.

I felt someone's hand slide up my leg. "Man, she's hot. Maybe we could have some fun with her first?" I was so confused, this wasn't like them...What was wrong? I was so frustrated, and scared by now, my eyes started to tear up.

"Keep your hands off of her. For now anyway, maybe later we will have some fun with her."

"I don't know if I can wait." I felt a hand slip in between my upper thighs, suddenly the sweatpants I had on didn't seem like enough clothing. I screamed through my gag. Suddenly there was the sound of flesh hitting flesh and Mikey lurched over to one side. Another set of hands grabbed me and pulled me away as he fell onto the ground. I found myself looking up at Leo.

"I said keep your fucking hands off of her." He said in a deadly voice to his brother. "I knew it was a mistake to let you carry her." I looked into Leo's face, trying to make sense of it all. He looked back down at me and my eyes widened in shock. Leo's ice blue eyes I could make out in even the darkest of nights. These eyes were dark, almost black. This wasn't my Leo... "That's right sweetheart." He purred at me. "I'm not him. I won't hesitate to kill you if you give me any problems even though having you alive would be far better, we can still use your corpse." Fear ran through me, I didn't doubt that for a moment...

He looked back over to the still prone form of his brother. "Get your ass up and let's go." He then turned and made his way further into the woods. He walked on for a few minutes when two more forms suddenly joined him.

"I see you managed to get her. I'm Impressed. The odds weren't really in your favor." This Donnie also had a harsher tone to it.

"They were distracted by their false sense of security in the rack shack of a house. It was actually pitifully easy. Dipshit there could have done it on his own."

"And probably would have raped her on the way back." Came Raph's voice. He looked down at me. "Not that I would blame him, I'd like to pound her myself"

"Between the both of you she would be dead. We need her." Dark Leo said. I refused to think of him as Leo, he didn't deserve that. "When we are done with her then you can have her." I closed my eyes as he said "After I'm done with her. I might even let him live long enough to watch..."

Dark Donnie grinned at him. "That would be interesting to observe. Aww look. You made her cry." I got no sympathy from the four sets of dark eyes watching me, my tears and sobs amusing them. Their evil grins a sure promise of what they had planned for me. If my fate were left to them I wouldn't survive.

That brought me to wondering exactly what the plan was. Trying to figure that out gave my mind something to do besides dwell on the conversation they had just had. But they had grown quiet as we moved further into the woods. I then took the time to study these counterfeit turtles. Even in the dark I could tell there were differences. The masks for one thing, they all seemed to wear black ones. They looked black in the dark anyway. The clothing was different also, not as colorful as the mix matched accessories of my guys, again the favored color seemed to be black. Their weapons however were the same types. Then we reached a large clearing and standing in the middle of it was another nightmare come true. Bishop. No, no, no, no...

"I see you had no trouble getting her. I'm impressed." He said. He then looked at me. "So we meet again, my dear. Have you fully recovered from our last encounter?" He gave me a smile that did nothing to comfort me. "I'm sure your wondering how this all came about." With the gag in my mouth all I could do was glare at him. "I think I'll be nice and enlighten you." Dark Leo practically dropped my to the ground and I couldn't help a small muffled cry of pain as I landed hard. Bishop had walked up to me and knelt by my side. "You see I was fully aware of Stockman's miserable attempt to catch your friends. I fully expected them to escape. What I didn't expect was the other set of turtles you brought with you." I looked at him stunned, he had seen that? I none of us had known he was there! Shit...

"Oh, yes. I watched it all. I found it curious that there was another set out there but I never saw them again. The similarities in the two groups were just far to intriguing. And add that to the fact of your mysterious appearance led me to a conclusion. You and they are not from this world." My gasp gave away the fact that he was right. Damn it he had figured it out after all.

"So I took Stockman's idea one step further. What better way to be rid of your meddlesome friends than by bringing in someone who can handle them?" The grin on his face sent a chill down my spine. "I assure you, I spent a long time searching for the right set of turtles. They mostly disgustingly noble, but these nice fellows were exactly what I was looking for. They will eliminate your friends for me, finally removing that thorn in my side. The only payment they asked for was the pleasure of doing it. To them this is going to be a nice challenge." He smirked at me. "And I even still get to keep my word to Leonardo. I said the cost is to high for me to pursue you. I never said I wouldn't have someone else do it." He stood up and walked away, then stopped and turned back to me. "Oh, and I also told them they could do with you as they wished. You are not from this world so you are not my concern." He left the clearing.

I found myself alone with these four monsters and I couldn't help but tremble in fear. Dark Leo knelt down next to me. "Mmmm. I can smell the fear in you. I might have a hard time waiting after all." His hand reached out and softly touched my cheek. I pulled my head away from him. Leo's touch was like silk against my skin this monster felt like filth. He grabbed my hair and pulled my head back towards him. "What? Isn't my touch good enough for you?" He placed his other hand between my thighs, the same place Dark Mikey had tried to fondle earlier. "I assure you, I'm better than him in every way. I think I'll take the time to prove that to you." He brought his hand up higher.

I struggled as best as I could but there was no escaping his iron grip in my hair. Crying uncontrollably I tried to twist myself away from him and he pulled on my hair hard. "Looks like you want this to be done the hard way." He whispered into my ear. He looked up at his brothers who all had expectant smiles on their faces. "What do you think boys? Should we break her before they even get here? Or wait until after?" They gathered around me.

Dark Donnie's eyes lit up. "I did like your suggestion of making him watch. What a better way to break him before you kill him? I say rape the girl in front of him."

"I don't know if I can wait." Dark Mikey said. "I really want to ride this little pony hard."

"I'm with Mikey." Dark Raph knelt down on my other side and lifted me up to a standing position. His free hand roughly grabbing my breast and squeezing it. "What do you say little brother? Double penetration?" Oh god... no...

Dark Leo stood in front of me. "I get her first." He pulled out a katana and slipped it under my sweater, his intent was clearly to cut it off. I tried to kick out at him but he easily blocked it. He laughed a cruel laugh. "How about we take her now and then again later? If she lives that is." He ginned at me.

"How about you get your filthy hands off of her." Came an ice cold voice from behind them. They turned swiftly to the sound and in that moment of distraction I felt something crash into Dark Raph, ripping me out of his arms. Then I was picked up by the same set of arms. I looked up to see the very familiar red mask over amber eyes. Raph...

Dark Raph stood up and glared at his counterpart. Raph returned that stare as he removed my gag and cut my bindings loose with his sai. The other were also facing off with their evil doubles.

"Well, I have to say you found us quicker than I thought you would." Dark Leo said quietly, sizing up Leo. "And I'm even more impressed that we didn't notice you coming. Even distracted it's hard to sneak up on us."

"That doesn't say a lot about your training then does it?" Leo replied.

"And seriously? What is up with the creepy blackout look? You guys look like a bunch of Ninja rejects." Mikey said

"This from the one who looks like pumpkin threw up on him." Dark Mikey answered.

"That the best you got? Pumpkin puke? Dude you are so lame."

"Enough of this!" Dark Leo snapped and rushed Leo. His dark brothers followed his lead and rushed in. Raph quickly pushed me to the side as his counterpart moved in. I stumbled and before I hit the ground I felt another set of arms grab me.

"I gotcha." Came Casey's voice.

"Where are the kids?" I whispered to him, trying to rub feeling back into my arms.

"April has them. She's locked up in the van. Don't worry Donnie made sure no one can get into it. The only one who can is currently occupied it seems." He looked out into the clearing at the turtles in question. I followed his gaze. The two Donnie's were locked into an intense staff fight. Dark Donnie spun his staff around to clip Donnie in the side but Donnie brought his own up to block it then rolled it over his opponents and brought the back end around and got a solid blow in on Dark Donnie's face. The dark clad turtle fell back then rolled away as Donnie's staff came in again. Dark Donnie got to his feet. "Not bad." He grinned.

"Your just not good." Came Donnie's reply. They came together again.

"Here I brought you something." Casey handed me my asp belt and I strapped it on.

"I'm not sure how much good they will do." I said as I watched.

"Yeah, I'm feeling a little out classed myself." Casey ruefully replied.

Raph came flying by and landed in a back roll. He quickly brought up an arm to block a kick from Dark Raph and then spun his leg out knocking the other leg out from under his opponent before the kicking foot came back down. Raph was about to lunge when Dark Raph flipped backwards out of his reach. Soon they were both standing again and their sais came together in a blur of movement. Finally Raph managed to twist a sai out of Dark Raph's hand and landed a punch onto his face. DarK Raph flew back into Dark Mikey who was fighting nearby.

"Good shot, Bro!" Mikey smiled at him.

"I figured you might need some help Raph grinned."

"Not with this loser." Mikey chirped happily. "Dude seriously needs to improve on his skills if he wants to beat me."

"I'll show you skills, you turtle reject!" Dark Mikey came flying back in. Mikey met that kick with a quick duck, grabbing the leg as he went down then twisting as he had a hold on it, effectively slamming Dark Mikey to the ground.

"You were saying something about skills? I'm still waiting for it, you ball of regurgitated puke."

The fiercest fight however was the one with the blades. The two Leo's had by now moved closer to where Casey and I watched mesmerized. The katanas were weaving intricate patterns in the air as they struck out at each other. It would have been beautiful, if it weren't so deadly. A katana went flying away and they were moving so fast I couldn't tell at first whose it was. It landed dangerously close to us and I saw the familiar handguard, it was Leo's. I swiftly moved to pick it up and handed it to Casey. "You got the better arm." I told him.

"Leo! Heads up!" And he launched it into a spin over towards the combatants. Without loosing his pace Leo reached out and plucked the spinning blade out of the air.

"Your good." Dark Leo grudgingly admitted. "But I never said I play fair." He swiftly back flipped away from Leo and landed next to me before I could move. He then knocked Casey out of the way and grabbed my arm. In a flash he had a katana across my neck.

"It's over. Drop your weapons or I slice her throat open."

Leo looked at him. "Her life is forfeit even if I surrender. You think I will let you put her through that?"

"I guess you have to make a hard choice then, don't you? You get to choose how she dies."

It hung there for a moment between them. Leo meeting his evil twin's gaze, not letting on that he saw my hands moving. "Your a coward. A disgusting filthy coward."

"Well that's open for debate, isn't it? I do what I have to do to win. Drop your weapons." By now the others had also stopped fighting and watched what was going on, the focus solely on both Leos. My actions were completely ignored by all except one.

"There is nothing to debate. You won't take her life."

"Please tell me, who exactly is going to stop me?"

"I am!" I said as I raised an asp and hit the button to extend it once it was in line with his face. Dark Leo's sword cut a little into my neck as his head snapped back but before it could go any further Leo was there and slapped it away. Then he caught Dark Leo's face with his fist as his head came back up, I quickly ducked out of the way as the two once again resumed their fight. There was a shift in the balance this time however. Leo pressed hard, moving his opponent away from me and in doing so I noticed his blades were starting to hit skin. Finally Leo caught both of Dark Leo's blades with one of his and twisted them out of the way as he brought the other in, slicing him deep in the side.

Dark Leo collapsed to the ground, and there was a furry of movement from the others. "Look Out!" Mikey shouted to the eldest running toward him. Leo spun as Dark Mikey made his assault on him followed by Dark Donnie. Leo held them back until his brothers came to his aid. Dark Raph stormed in and grabbed their leader, lifting him effortlessly. Then fled with him and his brothers as they pulled back. The guys were about to pursue when there was a blinding flash of light in the clearing. Once the light cleared the Dark Turtles were gone.

I rubbed my eyes, that light had hurt. "Damn flash grenade..." I mumbled.

Donnie walked up to me. "Let me see that cut." I lifted my head. "It's minor. I'll clean it when we get back."

Leo was now next to me and he wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Every one alright?"

"Good as it's going to get. That idiot whacked me good." Casey grumbled, rubbing his side.

"Your just getting slow." Mikey teased him.

"Let's go back." Leo said, he sounded so tired. "I have no idea where they went and I want out of these woods."

"No argument there." Casey replied.

We made our way out of the clearing, heading back to the farm. I filled them in on what happened as we walked, and I think we all had the feeling we didn't see the last of those four, nor of Bishop.


	27. Chapter 27

"You sure your alright?" Leo asked me as we walked, his hand was wrapped firmly into mine.

"I'm fine, Leo. Just got a headache from where he hit me."

Mikey chuckled. "I think Leo paid him back for that, and then some."

Leo sighed as he walked. "I can't believe Bishop actually brought them here."

"I can." I muttered.

"That still is creeping me out." Casey spoke up. "I thought I was going nuts when I saw them standing there."

"Think of how I felt." Leo said softly.

"I know what you mean, bro." Mikey said. "It was like looking into a mirror."

"A mirror of horror." Donnie chimed in.

"You can say that that again." Raph said quietly.

"It's not pretty to see yourself with all your values stripped away." Leo sighed again and was quiet as we walked on. I could tell this whole experience was bothering them, bothering them a lot. Can you blame them? They just looked into the face of everything they have stood and fought for their whole lives being perverted and mocked in their own forms. This was something no one really is equipped to deal with on a normal basis, I just hoped they could handle this. Hell I was hoping I could handle this, I couldn't help but feel a little guilty about the whole situation, if it hadn't been for me those monsters wouldn't even be here.

"And we would probably still be locked up in Stockman's lab." Leo said quietly to me. "Or even worse. These things happen, we will adjust and deal with it as it does."

Friggin mind jedi... "How did you find me anyway?" I asked. More to change the subject I think than for any other reason. I didn't have anything on me they could have used to trace me.

"Ninja skills!" Mikey said. "That and Donnie had put a tracking device on your ring."

"He what? Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"It must of slipped my mind." Donnie said. "That ring means a lot and I made sure that if anything happens to it I could find it. This time you were still attached to it when it went missing."

I shook my head. "You guys really never cease to amaze me." I frowned a little. "Wouldn't the other Don have noticed the signal though?"

"No. I programmed it to a frequency that is unique to your world. The only thing that can pick it up is the receiver I had to make especially for it. He wouldn't know what to look for."

"Donnie, your so smart you make my head hurt." I told him

"I know. I carry asprin round just for that reason. You want one?"

I laughed. We were getting close to the farm by now and I was relieved. It was cold out here and I really wasn't dressed for it and the adrenaline had long since fled my system. I was actually shivering now. We walked up to the van and Donnie knocked on the window quietly. April's head popped into view and she rolled down the window. "Every one ok?"

"We are all fine." Leo told her.

"Good, now would you mind letting me out? This floor isn't really very comfortable."

We couldn't help a small chuckle as Donnie walked around to the side door to open it. I was about to follow him around when Leo suddenly pushed me out of the way as he leaned back himself. Suddenly, embedded in the van right where we had been a moment before there were several shurikan buried into the metal.

Leo spun around, his face filled with anger and his weapons in hand, at the direction they had came from. "You didn't think we would give up that easily, did you?" Came that cold voice from before. I looked up to see four shadows coming out of the trees.

"Oh, shit..." Casey muttered. "Not again."

"I don't like to lose." Dark Leo said as they stalked in.

"That may be one of the few things we have in common then." Leo replied in a dangerous tone as he placed himself in front of me. "I don't either."

Without a word Dark Leo flung another shurikan and Leo swiftly knocked it out of the air. "Would you like to try that again?" He looked at his now bandaged foe. "I'd advise you to just go away."

"I don't think so. We still have something to finish." Was the reply.

By now Raph and Mikey had flanked Leo on either side, forming a barrier between them and me. I heard movement on top of the van and looked up. Donnie was knelt down on the van roof right above me, his staff ready in his hand. I picked myself up off of the ground and pulled out my asps. I wasn't about to let them fight alone this time, if I could find a way to help I would.

"What in the hell?" April asked stunned.

"You don't want to know." Casey replied, drawing out a bat. "You really don't want to know."

With a low growl Dark Leo charged in and Leo moved forward to meet him. Once again the sounds of their blades meeting ripped through the night. Donnie quickly flipped down and filled the hole Leo had left just as the other three moved in. The six of them came together in a flurry of movement, the sounds of their struggle joining the blades in the cold night air.

"Will someone please tell me what is going on?" April snapped from the window.

"Bishop brought these guys here from another world." I quickly filled her in.

"And they are totally backwards in the noggin." Casey added.

"Well isn't this great." She ducked as Mikey was slammed into the van door.

The orange banded turtle shook of the hit. "That the best you got? You hit like a damn jelly bean!" He pushed himself off of the van and back into the fight.

"Jelly bean? Really?" Casey said. "Your slacking Mikey."

"I kind of have something else on my mind." Was the reply.

"Here let me take care of that for you, by removing your head." Dark Mikey said as he launched another punch.

Mikey sidestepped it and delivered a knee jab, knocking the other turtle back. "No thanks. I kind of like it where it is." He replied dodging another blow as his counterpart moved back in.

"Will you shut him up." Dark Raph snarled at his brother.

"How about you worry about me." Raph snarled at him. The similarities in their tones was frightening. Dark Raph swung a massive blow at Raph that he managed to block but at the expense of the other arm coming in and landing a hit on his side. Raph grunted in pain as he doubled over slightly, his attention broken from the fight for a moment. Dark Raph used this moment to bring his sai in. Quickly I ripped a shuriken out of the van wall and threw it at him, my technique was all messed up on throwing it but it did what I had meant it to do.

Dark Raph changed the course of his sai to knock it away. Then looked at me. "Well that was a pitiful attempt. I'll teach you some manners. No one interrupts one of our fights." He growled in anger, his dark eyes flashing. He stalked in towards me and suddenly flew away as one of Raph's legs made contact.

"You don't listen very well do you. I told you to worry about me." Raph told him, placing himself between us. They came together in a flurry of movements again.

Some thing in what Dark Raph said made me narrow my eyes as I thought of something. I figured I'd try it out. I plucked another shurikan out of the van wall and waited for an opening, somewhere in one of those four fights. As chance had it the Leos gave me the opening I was looking for.

They were going at it hard, and fast. Even with the gash on his side he was more than able to hold his own right now. Adrenaline probably, but how would I know? They were from a different place. They could have some super secret healing I didn't even know about. Well that was a cheery thought...

I brought my attention back to what I was doing, watching for and opening. Dark Leo brought his swords down in a double slash pattern and Leo expertly blocked them swinging both of their blades out wide. Dark Leo used this moment to lash out with his foot and Leo spun out of the way. He still had one of Dark Leo's katanas held in the air but had to release the other as he turned. Dark Leo brought that sword in and that's when I let the shuriken fly. Again it was a bumbling attempt and was easily blocked.

Once again I found an angry, dark eyed, glare heading my way. "You little bitch." He snarled, pushing Leo out of the way he moved towards me. "How dare you interrupt. I should have killed you when I had the chance." He brought the sword up fully intent to bring it down on my body. He began his swing and it was caught by a similar blade as Leo moved back in.

"I don't think so." Leo snapped and kicked out, knocking him back.

I took this quick moment to whisper something to him. "Leo, they don't use teamwork. They are used to fighting as individuals and get furious when someone interferes."

Leo gave me a quick nod and rushed back out to meet his on coming foe, blades once again clashing together. One command rang out over all of the noise. "Shell huddle! All of you!" He threw me a quick glance noting my confused expression.

"I got it Leo." Donnie said as he swung his opponent's staff out wide then brought his own around to knock him back. Once clear he turned to me and grabbed my arm. "Come on." He said as he pulled me to the now clustered form of the others and Casey. I was placed in the middle of a wall of shells as they all faced outwards, the dark turtles once again moving in.

With this formation it was easy for the guys to lash out at their neighbor's opponent while the one on his other side did the same for him. The addition of Casey in the circle giving the guys an extra set of hands to pull this off. Not to mention I reached out and slapped someone with an asp when ever I got the chance. I ducked under Mikey's arm and brought my asp down on Dark Mikeys wrist as Mikey was blocking one of Dark Raph's punches aimed for Raph. Dark Mikey cried out in more rage than in pain as I quickly pulled my self back in the circle as Leo's sword came flying in from Mikey's other side to block Dark Mikey's blow aimed for me.

Mikey grinned at the turtle across from him. "Quicker than you thought she was, isn't she?" He taunted the other turtle. Dark Mikey just growled in rage and moved in again, this time at Leo and found Mikey blocking him this time. Dark Mikey actually screamed in frustration and lashed out at Mikey with a move so sloppy even I noticed it. Mikey and Leo lashed out together and Dark Mikey was hit with a double punch to the face that launched him backwards. He didn't get back up.

This strategy was having the same effect on the other dark turtles. Confused and enraged by this strategy their tempers were starting to get the better of them, and it grew harder for them now with one of their number down. Dark Donnie launched a swing at Casey, who ducked, and Donnie used that moment to swipe the dark turtle's feet out from under him.

He got back to his feet and launched a swing at Donnie that was deflected by Leo, and Casey brought his bat down on the dark clad turtle's arm. Dark Donnie hissed in pain and tried to lash out again but was stopped short by Leo's kick to the stomach. As he was gasping for air Donnie brought his staff around and with a crack to the head, Dark Donnie went down.

Now with only two left the guys once again changed formation. They formed a line with two turtles on one dark turtle. Leo and Donnie on Dark Leo and Raph and Mikey on Dark Raph. Casey got a blow in when ever he could. Dark Leo kept his composure better than his siblings, this was to be expected, in some things the two Leos were exactly the same. Dark Raph on the other hand was quickly loosing his.

'"Come on, dude. You move like your in slow motion. What's the matter you got lead in your ass?" Mikey taunted the big turtle. If it was one thing Mikey knew how to do was piss of Raph, any Raph. With a roar of rage Dark Raph swung out at the smallest turtle who easily dodged the blow. As Mikey was ducking Raph's leg came over him with a spin kick that connected hard with the face of his twin. Casey helped him to fall by dashing in and swinging his bat at the now unbalanced large dark turtle's legs. He hit the ground and Raph was promptly on top of him sending out his own swing that connected. A moment later the large turtle was still.

Leo and Donnie were pushing dark Leo hard, but he still managed to keep the two turtles at bay. I do have to give him that, he had determination. He refused to give up. "It's over." Leo snapped at him. "You lost."

"It's not over until one of us lies dead on the ground." Dark Leo hissed back at him launching another swing of is sword. Leo blocked and twisted it away and moved in with a strike of his own as Donnie moved in low with his staff. Dark Leo launched over the staff and blocked Leo's blows. What he couldn't block, however, was Mikey's kick as he came flying in. Mikey hit him squarely in the side and before Dark Leo flew back, Raph caught him by the arm and with a smooth twist slammed him into the ground, hard. Stubbornly Dark Leo got back unsteadily onto his feet and was met by an equally determined Leo. Leo eyed his now not so steady twin closely. "This ends now." He said quietly and launched a blow to his twin's face, easily getting past the other's defensive blocks. He let out a sigh as the form finally crumpled to the ground.

We heard cheering coming from behind us and turned to see. Dennis and Amy were looking out of the window with April and they were hopping up and down clapping. I just shook my head, at least someone had fun with all of this. I met Leo's gaze and didn't miss the amused half smile on his face.

"Ok, now can we get out please? Some of us really have to go to the bathroom!" April said.

We laughed as we once again made our way over to the van. "Go let them out Donnie. The rest of us will tie them up."

"I got some cable in the van that might hold them." Donnie replied and we walked around to the other side. Donnie opened the van and April and the kids shot out, running towards the bathroom. I couldn't help a chuckle on that one. Donnie started to hand out some cables and Raph and Casey made their way back around the van to begin tying the knocked out forms up laying around the yard.

"Shit!" We heard Casey exclaim. Once again we rushed around the van and didn't like what we saw there. The dark turtles were gone and in their place stood Bishop.

"I'll take them off of your hands now. I must thank you for a most entertaining night. Be assured, you will meet your new friends again. Just as soon as I work out some apparent difficulties with them." Then he flickered and vanished.

"What the..." I said.

"Hologram." Came Donnie's curt answer. He then turned to me. "Come on, lets get that cut cleaned up."

Quietly we all went inside. This time we knew it was over, for now.


	28. Chapter 28

I winced slightly as Donnie cleaned my cut, it stung a little. After we got into the house he bullied me into a chair and began to take care of my throat. Apparently I had been very lucky, all he was able to do was cut skin. Leo had gotten to him before it could go any deeper.

"Sorry." He murmured softly.

"It's alright, just make sure it's clean. It would be my luck that it would get infected. For some reason he doesn't strike me as keeping his sword very clean. Who knows where, or in who, it's been." I replied. Donnie chuckled, it was an amused but also a tired sound.

They all were tired, but they couldn't settle down yet. Part of the reason was the two now very wound up kids running around the living room. "That was so cool!" Dennis exclaimed as he was trying to do some jumping kicks.

"Yeah!" Amy said throwing punches around so hard she spun herself around and fell over. "You guys knocked them so hard!"

"Did you see that cool flip Raph did?"

"Or that air awesome air kick Mikey did!"

"Donnie smacking that other Donnie with his staff. That rocked!"

"Not as good as Leo's sword swings!"

Well, looks like all that worrying we did about them getting scared was pretty much wasted. Hell they were taking this better than we were. I kind of miss the innocence of youth, when all the fears were dispelled by a simple good guys beat the bad guys fight. As long as the good guys won everything was alright in their world, for now anyway.

"Alright, I'm done." Donnie said. "It doesn't need stitches but I'll wrap it anyway. It's to long for a simple princess band aid."

"Pfft, like Amy would let me have one of hers anyway." I told him with a smile.

He chuckled again as he began to wrap up my throat. Once he finished I got up and turned my attention to my still bouncing around children, though their bouncing seemed to be less bouncy. "All right you two. It's time to settle down and go back to bed."

"Aww Mommy! We aren't tired!" Dennis whined.

I rubbed a hand on my still aching head, noticing that I now had a nice bump where I got smacked. I winced again and Donnie's keen eyes noticed it. Right back into the chair I went. I just sighed, I was to tired to argue with him. After checking my head he apparently was satisfied I wouldn't slip into a coma or something. He got up and went into the kitchen and came back shortly after with a glass of water and some pain pills. "Here, take these. They will help with your headache."

"Thanks, bud." I told him, taking the pills and popping them in, then chased it down with the water.

Leo by now had walked over to the kids. "So you guys liked that stuff, huh?"

"Yeah! It was awesome!" Amy grinned up at him, it was kinda cute to see. She looked so tiny next to his large form.

"Would you like to learn some ninja stuff?"

Two heads bobbed up and down and I groaned. This wasn't helping...

Donnie however chuckled. "Just watch." He whispered to me. So I kept my mouth shut and did.

"Alright. Then let's begin now. But we start with the very basics, meditation. Your to wound up right now for me to instruct you properly."

They looked a little disappointed but didn't argue with him. Leo sat on the floor near them and told them to do the same, which they did. A slightly grinning Mikey went around and dimmed the room, leaving just one small lamp on. I'm sure he would have lit some candles but there wasn't any at the farm right now. Raph was sitting on the couch with April and Casey the same look of amusement on his face Donnie had and, oddly, a faint tinge of sadness. Mikey sat next to the kids on the floor, apparently going to join them.

Leo then walked the kids through on how to meditate, patiently instructing them on how to clear their minds. It took them a little bit to understand what he was trying to tell them, but he kept at it with calm determination. Finally they seemed to comprehend his instructions and sat there, copying his pose, with their eyes closed. Leo just calmly watched, waiting for something. Then almost at once they both toppled over, Leo quickly grabbed Amy before she hit the floor as Mikey did the same for Dennis.

"Are you friggin kidding me..." I whispered as they carried the now sleeping children upstairs to their beds.

Raph laughed softly. "Master Splinter used to do the same thing to us as kids when we were to wound up to sleep."

"And if I remember right, he usually did it to Mikey." Donnie smiled.

I couldn't help a soft chuckle. Once again I wished that I could have met him. "Well guys I'm going to go to bed myself." I stood up. "Good night everyone."

They said theirs as I made my way slowly up the stairs. Once in the loft I couldn't help a small smile, Leo was just finishing up with tucking Amy in. He had a gentle expression on his face as he made sure she was warm under her covers. He stood up as I walked in and turned to me. "You should get some rest too."

"I was planning on it." I said trying to hold back a yawn.

"Me too." Mikey said quietly from where he finished tucking Dennis in. He plopped down on his bed. "This has been one crazy day."

"And one that I am glad is finally over." Leo added.

"I'm surprised your still standing yourself." I told him as I laid down. "Your the one that tried to hold up half a building on your own."

He came over and pulled the covers over me. "It wasn't half a building." He said with a smile.

"I know, I'm just teasing you." He laughed softly as my eyes started to close. Then I felt him kiss my hair and soon after I was asleep.

We all slept late the next morning, surprisingly I was the first one awake or so I thought. I groggily sat up and noticed a form standing by the window, Mikey was standing there looking out. I quietly walked over to him. "Good morning." He said to me quietly as I got near.

"Mornin." I mumbled back. "Why are you up here looking out the window?" Usually he would be downstairs making breakfast.

"Leo wanted one of us to stand watch, just in case." Came the soft reply.

"I'm surprised he didn't think about that earlier last night."

Mikey chuckled. "He did. By the time Raph got up here to take his shift you were already gone." He looked at me. "We didn't want to freak the kids out so we waited until we were sure they would be asleep. Apparently they were faster than we were though."

I sighed as I turned to look out the window. The calm morning almost made what happened last night seem unreal, almost. Mikey and I stood there quietly for awhile, gazing out the window. Neither one of us really wanted to talk. For one the morning had a calm serene feel to it that talking took away from, for another we didn't want to wake the others. That silence however was interrupted by a loud growl from my stomach.

Mikey looked at me with a smile. "Someone is hungry."

"Yeah, I guess I am at that."

He looked around the room, noticing Leo starting to stir. "Looks like Leo is waking up. He can take over while we go make breakfast." Mikey walked quietly to his now sitting up brother and spoke quietly to him for a moment as I made my way to the stairs.

By the time we had breakfast done everyone else had made their way to the table. After placing two plates in front of a pair of hungry children we sat down and began to eat.

"So what's the plan for today?" Mikey asked.

"We still need to get that truck running." Leo replied.

"Casey and I will go back out there and work on it some more." Donnie said.

"Great. Another day in the cold." Casey griped.

"Oh quite your complaining." April told him.

"I don't see you out there trying to fix it."

"That's because I don't know how. That's what you two are for."

Casey glared at her and she returned it with a smile.

So, despite Casey's grumbling, once again those two found themselves working on the truck while the rest of us kept a watchful eye out. We figured they wouldn't be back but better safe than sorry. We did let the kids out to play however, though one of the guys was always out there with them. It was Leo's turn to look over them when I decided to step out for some air late that afternoon. I didn't see them right away but the sound of giggling led me around the house.

Rounding the corner I saw what was causing all of the giggles, apparently they were playing some kind of tag game with both of them trying to tag Leo. They were failing miserably however, every time they would get close he would just neatly side step them. I was honestly a bit surprised, normally if they couldn't catch their target right away they would get frustrated. But here they were, trying again and again and having a blast doing it.

Finally Amy was able to anticipate his move and came real close to tagging him, like within a few inches close. "I almost had you!" She squealed with delight.

"Almost." He agreed smiling, then sidestepped again as Dennis came in for another try.

I watched them play for awhile, amused by the sight. I took a while before it dawned on me what he was actually doing. He wasn't just playing, he was making them think quick on their feet. I began to see more of actual planning in their moves instead of randomly trying to tag Leo, a few times they would have a quick whispered conversation on how to get him. He was forcing them to think ahead. "You sneaky bastard..." I mumbled with a smile. Apparently training had begun, and they didn't even realize it. Finally I could see they were starting to tire, Leo noticed it as well. He finally let them catch him as they came in from two different sides and he let them tackle him to the ground. There was a lot more giggling as they rolled around on the ground, his nimble fingers quickly finding tickle spots.

"Now that was interesting to watch." Raph said quietly from behind me with a chuckle.

"Yeah, it was." I agreed.

Finally the laughing died down and they all got up. Leo looked down at the two red faces. "Why don't you go inside and warm up for a while now."

"Aaaaw..." Amy whined.

"Mikey made some hot chocolate." I told her. That cut of anymore griping as they tore into the house. Works every time...

Leo smiled as he watched them go, then began to walk towards us. "You two spying on me?"

"I just came out here to see what all the racket was about." Raph replied. "Your slacking, fearless. That was very noisy." Apparently I wasn't the only one who caught on to what he was doing.

Leo grinned at him. "So were we when we first started."

Raph's reply was cut off as a noisy racket that came out of the barn, followed by a lot of black smoke that soon tapered off. Slowly and lurching the old beat up truck made it's way out of the barn, with Casey behind the wheel. Donnie walked out right behind it saw us standing there and came over.

"I see you got that hunk of tin running." Raph told him.

"Finally. That thing was proving to be difficult." Donnie replied.

Raph looked at the rust bucket with a skeptic eye. "You sure that thing won't fall apart?"

"Hey, that wasn't my concern. Leo just told me to get it running. He never said to keep it together."

"Smart ass."

"My brain is too."

I bust out laughing. Leo also had an amused look on his face as Raph gave Donnie one of his looks. Donnie just looked back at him in feigned wide eyed innocence.

"Good work. Go inside and get warmed up. After dark we will send a team out to the junk yard." Leo told Donnie.

Donnie nodded and made his way into the house. By now Casey had parked the truck next to the van and also disappeared inside. Mikey popped his head out of the window next to us. "Hey, you guys going to come in and eat?"

"We're coming Mikey." Leo told him and we also made our way inside.


	29. Chapter 29

Later that night, close to midnight, the truck was once again fired up, it's noisy racket echoing off of the surrounding tress. The noise was deafening.

"Well this ain't going to be a stealth mission." Raph grumbled as we stood outside.

Leo sighed. "Can't be helped this time." He looked at Donnie and Mikey who were going with Casey. "Be careful. That racket might draw attention to you."

Donnie just nodded as he squeezed into the truck next to Mikey. I think Leo would have preferred them to ride in the back covered up with a tarp but it was cold out. Donnie pulled the door closed and the truck rattled of into the night.

"If they don't get caught in that clapper wagon it'll be a miracle." Raph grumbled as he went back inside.

Leo also looked a bit worried as he watched the noisy truck fade from sight. I took his hand. "I'm sure they will be fine." I told him.

He sighed. "I know. But that truck is so damn loud." He grinned at me. "We are ninjas, we're supposed to be quiet."

"Can't be quiet all the time." I smiled at him. "I seem to remember some explosions being made since you came into my life."

He pulled me close to him. "And not just the fiery kind either." He said softly. I immediately caught his point when he brought his head down to kiss me.

"Oh those are fiery too, just a different kind of fire. I love those explosions." I told him after he finally released his lips from mine. He softly smiled down at me and I could feel one of his hands sliding under my coat and sweater, gently caressing the skin on my side.

"Do you now..." He leaned in again, this time to nuzzle my cheek and jaw line. I knew he really wanted my neck but it was still under wraps.

"Mmmm. You know I do." I replied softly. His hand had by now wandered up higher and he was softly stroking my breast. I moaned softly and leaned into him. Since he couldn't nuzzle mine I chose to do him the favor, my lips and teeth gently gliding over his neck. I was rewarded for that with a soft churr. We were both starting to breath heavier now, and it felt like I had way to many clothes on.

His other hand had made it's way in between my legs and was caressing me over my clothes, pushing in just enough to make sure I could feel him through my jeans. I moaned softly into his neck, pushing myself into his probing hand. I let my hands wander down and ran them over his well muscled thighs.

With tremendous effort he pulled himself away from me. I think I knew what he was thinking, doing this in the middle of the yard probably wasn't the best idea. He then grabbed my hand and pulled me into the woods. Sure we could have gone to the barn, or even the van. But he chose the woods. I couldn't help feeling a twitch of fright as I once again found myself in between the trees that so far had only brought me memories I'd rather forget. Once we were a ways inside the forest, and out of view of the house, he once again pulled me close to him catching me in another kiss. This time his swift fingers undid my jeans and slipped inside continuing his soft pressure from earlier.

Breaking the kiss I moaned loudly, then leaned onto him. My hands needing to hold him, to feel him, I again ran them along his thighs. He bought his face close to mine and let out a churr, then began to kiss my jawline his free arm pulling me even closer against him. He then pushed his finger hard up against me and I whimpered into his shoulder. "Leo-o..."

"Hmm?" Came his voice softly in my ear. "Want me do do that again?" I could only nod and he pushed his finger up again. I couldn't hold back the moan and I bucked against him, my hands now trying desperately to undo his belt. God damn that complicated belt! I heard him laugh softly in my ear then he removed his hand and pushed mine gently out of he way and undid it himself. I slid my hand in and found that he was already starting to emerge from his slit. I rubbed my hand over him and he let out a soft moan of his own then brought his lips to mine in another kiss.

It only took me a few strokes to bring him fully to life and he churred and moaned with every one, his fingers once again pushing against me. Finally he pushed my jeans and underwear down just enough to free me from their confinement and turned me gently around. I leaned forward and held onto a near by tree for support and he then pushed himself into my now slick body and began to thrust. His hands working their way around my hips, he pushed me onto him driving himself further in.

I didn't feel the cold of the night, only his heat as he moved inside of me moving now at a quicker pace. I felt my body aching for that release that I just couldn't quite achieve. My gasps and moans echoing that frustration. He brought one of his hands down my front and firmly, but gently, reached a finger in and once again pushed hard against me. I gasped and threw my head back in pleasure, this time he didn't remove the finger but instead kept the pressure and began to move it back and forth. I couldn't control myself, the double stimulation wrecking havoc on my body. Finally that release I had been so desperately wanting hit me in massive waves. Crying out into the night I felt my knees giving in as he also came. Before I collapsed he quickly adjusted his grip and pulled me backwards towards him. He held me close as I collapsed against him, placing a soft kiss onto my cheek.

As I leaned against him, with his warm arms around me, I noticed a different feeling inside of me. It took my pleasure numbed mind a while to figure out what it was. These woods, which I had actually feared to enter before, no longer scared me. Ever since that night Bishop caught me, and once again last night with the dark turtles, I had been afraid to go into the forest again. Leo, had just erased those fears by giving me something that my mind could use to fight those fears. He had given me a memory that was far more powerful than the previous ones.

"You did that on purpose." I said tiredly to him.

He began to gently pull my clothes back up with one hand still holding me close with the other. "Yes, I did." Was his calm reply as he refastened my jeans. "We come out here a lot. It's a wonderful place, a place where we can get away from the stress of things back home. But that doesn't mean we don't run into things out here either. I don't want your view of it to be clouded with fear. So I wanted to give you something to help you fight it." He shifted me around so he could redo his own pants. "That and you were just to irresistible tonight." He brought his arm back around me.

I leaned my head back onto his shoulder, just enjoying his presence. Once again he had eased my fears, this time in a very enjoyable way. "I love you so much." I told him softly.

He kissed my cheek again. "I love you. too." We stood there for awhile, lost in our own world. My new found confidence in these woods letting me enjoy the night time sounds. I smiled as I heard an owl hoot off in the distance. Finally though we heard another noise off in the distance, the sound of a mobile clunker pile.

"Sounds like the guys are heading back." I told Leo.

"It has to be them. I can't think of anything else that makes such a racket." He said. Taking my hand he guided me through the trees back to the farm house. We came out of the woods just as they were pulling into the long drive. Raph was already waiting on the porch, leaning on a post. He gave us a knowing look with a half smile but left it alone, turning his attention to the rattle trap approaching.

Finally the thing sputtered to a stop next to the van and they got out. "Man, I'm going to be deaf for a month." Mikey griped as he slid out of the truck.

"Hell, you don't listen half the time anyway." Raph told him. "Not going to make much difference there."

Leo cut them off before an argument started. "Did you find anything?"

Donnie nodded. "Finding exact matches was hard but I think I can make due with what I did find. I may have to improvise some, but I'll be able to get us home."

"Alright. Let's go inside and get some rest."

"Yeah, especially you Leo. You look a little wore out." Raph grinned.

Leo just gave his brother a long look, then shook his head and went inside after the others. Raph turned to go in and I popped him on the back of the head, well I tried. I couldn't quite reach so I ended up just smacking him in the shoulder. He turned to look back at me stunned. "What did you do that for?"

"You do realize that you are the only one of you guys that still teases him about that right?" I fumed at him. "Donnie and Mikey got past that childishness weeks ago." I didn't mind the friendly bantering but this teasing about us was uncalled for.

He looked at me a moment, I could have thought I seen something run through his amber eyes. Then he sighed. "Your right, I'm sorry." Wait wha...? Did he just... Nooooo. Raph apologize? For making fun of Leo? Something was broken in there... Baiting Leo was his favorite past time... Besides smacking Mikey.

I caught his arm as he turned to go inside. "Spit it out, Raph. What's bothering you?"

For a moment I saw anger flash in his eyes, then it was quickly suppressed. "Nothing." He said quietly turning once again to the door. I stepped in front of him, blocking the way.

"Liar. You forget that I know you better than you think I do. I've been an outside observer most of my life. I know you don't like to open up about anything, especially about what bothers you. Something is and you can't hide it from me." I glared up at him.

Again anger flashed in his eyes. He raised a hand as if to push me out of the way. He stopped real quick when I popped an asp out. He took a deep breath to calm himself. "Why do you have to be so stubborn?" He asked me.

"The same reason why you are." I told him. "Your temper might make your brothers leave you alone but it ain't shit to what a single mother has to deal with." I pointed with my asp to the stairs. "You are going to sit and we are going to talk."

He blinked, then sighing he sat his large frame down on the stairs and I sat next to him. He sat there quietly awhile looking out over the yard. Finally he said softly. "I'm jealous."

"Of what?"

Again he was quiet for a few moments. "Because he found something special. He found you." He looked at me. "Don't get me wrong, I have no feelings toward you like that. I think of you as a sister. It's just..." He broke off.

"He found someone who would accept him for who he is, not what?" I asked him.

He looked away and nodded. "I'm glad you found each other. You make him happy, disgustingly happy. When we first came home it actually broke my heart that night you two had to say goodbye, thinking you were never going to see each other again." He smiled a little. "You should have seen the look on his face when Donnie told him he might have found a way to get back to your world." Again he got quiet, just staring out into the night.

"And you wish you could find someone like that."

He nodded. "But I doubt I'll ever find her." I looked at him a moment. This wasn't really surprising to me. Raph always comes across as the big badass but this covers a very sensitive inner core. Raph does care, he does feel and he does have hopes and dreams of his own. He just hides it behind his gruff exterior.

"Raph, there was a time where if I was told that the Ninja Turtles would end up one night in my living room I would have paid for their treatment in the nuthouse." I laid a hand on his shoulder. "Don't give up hope. Things have a way of working themselves out on their own. Don't close that door on yourself."

He looked back at me. "It seems pretty impossible."

"So did the fact that I would ever get to meet Leo in real life, and look what happened. She is out there, Raph. You just haven't found her yet."

Again he was quiet but I saw something shift inside him. He smiled at me. "Your a very special lady, you know that?"

"No, I'm not. I just don't want you to give up on something that has a chance to happen. If you give up on it, you'll miss it when it does come around." I put my hand on his cheek. "And I love you to much to let you do that to yourself, big brother." I stood up and kissed him on his masked forehead. Ignoring his slightly goofy look I turned to go inside. Leo had been silently leaning in the doorway with his arms crossed listening, he met my eyes and smiled at me nodding his head in approval. Then quietly taking my hand we walked inside and let Raph enjoy his new found hope.


	30. Chapter 30

Finally Donnie got the vehicles in driving condition again. It took him most of a day to do it so we just decided to head back the next morning. We got up and got our usual early start on the road, and dealt with the usual bored kids. We got back and unloaded everything and Leo helped me carry our stuff to my place. Donnie then made it his mission to replace all of the improvised tires and put the right ones on the van. SInce he had everything he needed at home he was done fairly quickly.

The rest of us kind of just floated around beween the lair and my house the rest of the day. Mom had seen us foating around outside and walked over to see how our trip went, and to find out why we came home a few days early. I saw her coming and tried real hard to hide the cut on my throat. She bought the tripped over a root story last time, I wasn't so sure I could fool her with a good excuse on this one. I knew that eventualy I would have to tell her but I didn't want her to worry. She never really got into the tv shows like I did so I'm not sure how much she understood of how dangerous their lives were.

"Hey, Mom." I greeted her as she walked up. I was outside letting the kids play in the snow. There was a warm streak coming through and it was starting to melt away. I figured I'd let them enjoy themselves in it while they could.

She waved at me, then turned to the kids. "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah!" Dennis yelled. "Some bad turtles came and got Mommy! The guys whooped the boogers out of them! Mommy beat up on them too! It was awesome!" Well shit... Mom turned and looked at me. Oooooh boy...

"I'd like an explenation, young lady." Young lady? She hasn't called me that since I was twelve... And always when I was in trouble. Got ratted out by my own kids...

I sighed as I looked at her. How was I going to deal with this now? I looked at my kids. "Why don't you guys go over by the goat pen. there is still plenty of snow over there. Why don't you see if you can make them a snowman before it all melts." They chirped happily as they bounded away to go pester the goats.

"They are putting you in danger aren't they?" She asked me, a tinge of anger in her voice.

"Mom, stop it." I turned to look at her. "I knew full well what I was getting into."

"They are getting you hurt with their antics!"

"It's not 'antics'. They do a lot of good, they have saved countless lives and they don't fight unless they have too. What in the hell did you think it was going to be like living with them? Yes they are in alot of danger, yes they made enemies and damn it yes those enimies have tried to use me to get to them. It's something I knew and fully understood when I got involved with them. I've known the truth of what they do for years. I understand and accept the risks."

"But what of your kids!" She almost shouted at me. "What if something happens to them!"

"Do you think that doesn't bother me?" I snapped back at her.

"Then why do you allow it!"

"Because what they do is important!" I struggled to calm myself down. "Mom, you still see in them the annoying beings that just go around and beat up on folks. When it was just on TV and movies it was fine to think that way. But they are real, the folks they help are real. The side effect of that is their enemies are real and they are dangerous. No, I don't want to put my kids in danger but you need to understand that they will do everything they can to keep the kids safe. It's no different than the guys that go out to fight terroists and major drug cartels here. Who they are is kept secret, to protect their families. Would you be upset with me if I were married to one of those secret soldiers and something like this happened?"

"That's different." She said.

"Why? Why is it different? They do the exact same thing, protect the innocent and take down major threats."

"Because it's not your world. This is your world you seem to be forgetting that."

"My world or not, it's still the same principle. They do what they have to do, if they didn't a lot of lives would be destroyed. I'm not going to ask them to stop." I looked hard at her. "Just like you didn't ask me to rethink joing the service."

That, I think, hit her. I know for a fact she didn't want me to join but she let me go. I had wanted to help others and felt that was the best way I could at the time. She had to accept the fact that I would be placed in dangerous situations, and yes I had been in them. I put everything on the line once for the greater good, I sure as hell would let the guys do it now. Mom looked at me a moment. "I just don't want the kids to get hurt." She said quietly.

"I know, Mom. Trust me I would never forgive myself if something happened to them." I sighed. "What happened at the farm wasn't supposed to happen. There was never any intent to put them in danger."

"And I assure you steps will be taken so that does not ever happen again." Leo said as he walked towards us. "Donnie is already working on something, with Casey's full blessing." He looked at my mom. "Never again will I let danger come so close to them, the next time we go out there we won't be so caught off guard. You have my word on that."

Mon tried to hold onto her anger, she was like that sometimes wanted to fight just because she could, but Leo's calm reassurence seemed to settle her down. "And my daughter? Will you keep her safe as well?"

"We do try." Came his quiet voice. Then he grinned at her. "She doesn't make it easy sometimes though. She has a stubborn streak in her."

"You noticed?" Mom took a deep breath. Then looked at me. "You be careful from now on. Your still not to old to where I can't take a cooking spoon to your hide."

I grinned at her. "Yes, ma'am."

She gave me the mommy evil eye a moment, then let it drop turning her attention to Leo. "It's actually you I came to talk to." He looked at her curiosly. "Our neighbor that lives over there," She pointed to our western property line. "he passed away while you were out. I'm not sure but I think his kid is going to take the place over. My husband and son have seen someone wandering the property line a few times now. You might want to be careful when you guys are out that way."

"I'll let the others know, thank you."

"Your welcome. I'll admit I don't agree with you lifestyle, but that doesn't mean I want you to get found out. You have made my daughter and grandkids happy and I want you to be able to keep doing that." Whoooaa...talk about complete one eighty here... First she chews my ass for hanging out with them then she says something like that... Some times Mom confuses me.

She stayed awhile to hang out with the kids and talk with us. They had finally finished their snowman and we yayed and cheered and did the 'good jobs'. The goats however really didn't seem to impressed, they never were. Aftter awhile she went back home, Dad would be home from work soon and she wanted to make him a pot of coffee before he got there.

I sighed as she walked away. "Well that was one conversation I didn't want to have with her." I mumbled to Leo.

"I know."

We just left it at that and watched the kids romp around in the snow for awhile until I decided that it was time to bring them in. Their clothes were starting to get wet in the mushy snow.

New Years Eve came and went pretty much like a normal day at my place only difference being waking the kids up at midnight to tll them happy new year them throwing them back into bed. They would be going back to school in a couple days and I wasn't about to mess up their sleep schedule to much. By now the snow was gone but we had another hard freeze that froze all the mud solid. Now that the holidays were over I really was sick of winter. I was more than ready for spring.

Dad was apparently too. He was going into the woods more often on our western side to start looking over trees he could use to make fence posts. He hated to spend the money to buy the stuff, he'd rather do it himself. During these excursions apparently is when he noticed our neighbor wandering around and told Mom about it. We always tried to make sure he had someone out there with him though. Years ago he had cut his fingers pretty bad and if he wasn't careful he would get frostbite on them real easy. I can't tell you how many times I've had to bully him to go home and warm his hands up over the years.

Finally school started back up and we slipped into our usual routine, As I watched the bus pull away I noticed my dad slip out of the house and head to the woods again. "That stubborn old man." I muttered under my breath. I quickly wrote a note incase the guys popped in and then bundled up and followed my dad.

I caught up to him just as he entered the woods. "Whatcha doing pop?"

"I found some nice trees to use." He replied. "Gonna go and mark them so I know which ones to cut later."

I tried real had not to do a facepalm. "And how are you going to get them out of here?"

"Well, I was hoping I could talk your friends into helping me."

"Dad they are turtles, not draft horses."

"Oh I dunno. Raph looks half draft horse to me."

I groaned. "Daaaaad..." He gave me a big childish grin.

He was like a big kid sometimes, but I loved him anyway. We walked around, Dad marking the trees he wanted for this years fence expansion and me bullying to see his hands to make sure they weren't turning that tell tale blue thay did when they were getting to cold. We had been out there for over an hour when Leo and Raph came looking for us.

"Just he guys I wanted to see!" Dad grinned.

"Brace yourselves. He's about to sucker you into something." I warned them.

"Hush you." Was my dad's reply.

Raph chuckled. "What did you need?" Leo asked him with a smile.

He then began talking to them about what he was wanting to do and surprisingly, then again not really, they agreed to help him when he was ready. They were discussing it still when an unfamilier daytime noise shot out over the landscape, real close. "Coyotes? It's to early for them to be out." I said.

Dad frowned. "Maybe they are desperate."

"Or rabid." I grumbled, either way I didn't like it.

Suddenly there was a new sound echoing throught the woods, a steady pace that sounded like a...horse? What the hell? Dad and I shot each other a quick glance, we both knew the sound of a paniked horse in full flight and this was it. We scrambled trying to find the beast in the woods, if it wasn't slowed down it would break a leg in the underbrush. Finally Dad caught sight of it. "Over there." He pointed.

I followed his finger and noticed the large black form speeding along, and also the limp form being drug behind it. "Shit! We have to stop it. It's rider is hung up in the stirrup!"

"There is no way we are going to catch it, it's heading the wrong way. It's to far to intercept." Dad said turning to me. Then he blinked. "Where did Leo and Raph go?"

I turned around, they were gone. I smiled. "I got a fairly good idea." I said as I turned back to him, then I pointed toward the horse.

We watched as their forms emerged from the woods near the horse. Leo stood in the animal's path with his arms outstreched blocking the animal's path. It slowed down but began to sidestep in it's fear, almost stepping on it's rider. Raph quickly moved in and released the tangled up foot and lifted the limp body out of the way as Leo worked to calm the horse. Finally he was able to get his hands on the reins and held onto it. He was gently stroking it's head by the time dad and I got there.

I went to Raph to check on the rider. It was a woman, and she wasn't moving. I suspect the gash on her head might have something to do with that. As I was checking her over I saw her eyes open briefly and she looked up at the large turtle holding her, he met her gaze with a calm one of his own, then they slipped shut again. I looked up at Raph. "We need to get her to the house. It's cold out here." He just nodded, still looking down into her face. Then we walked towards the house as Leo and Dad followed with the horse. I was able to catch Leo's eye as we turned away and I could have sworn I saw a slight smile on his face as he looked back at Raph.


	31. Chapter 31

"I'll go get Donnie." Leo said as we entered the house.

"Wouldn't an ambulance be better?" Dad asked.

"I'd trust Donnie more than these these overpriced hospitals." I answered, then looked over to Raph. "Your going to have to put her down, bud. It's going to be kinda hard for Donnie to look her over like that."

"Oh...Yeah, right." He walked over and laid her, very gently, on the couch.

"Ok well, I'm not much use here. I'll go tend to the horse, that I know how to do." Dad spoke up.

"Thanks Pop." I told him as he walked out.

Donnie and Leo had by that time made it back. Donnie pushed Raph out of the way, ignoring his growl, and leaned over to look her over. He quietly worked and we quietly watched. Finally he stood up after he patched up her head and turned to us. "She is probably going to be knocked out for awhile but should be ok, a few scrapes and a nice knock on her head is about all. And a sprained ankle from when her foot was caught up in the stirrup. She is going to-"

"AAAhhhh!" Came from the couch. We all spun to see her laying there staring wide eyed up at us.

"Well shit..." I muttered.

Raph spun to Donnie "I thought you said she wouldn't wake up for awhile!"

"Ooops..."

"Oh no, oh no...I'm dreaming...I have to be dreaming." She looked up again and tried to get up, and promptly fell over as her bad ankle wouldn't support her. Raph caught her be fore she hit the floor. "Turn me loose!" She cried as she began to beat him on his chest, repeadedly.

Leo turned to me with a raised brow. "You didn't take it that bad."

"Yeah, I know. But I've seen more shit than most others have. My shock-o-ometer is pretty much busted."

Raph was still trying to get the woman on the couch, and she was still hitting him. Finally with a heave he just tossed her back, and she bounced a few times before she sat still. "Now stay there!" He yelled at her.

"Fuck you!" She spat back at him and tried to get back up again.

He pulled out a sai and held it in front of her, point aimed at her. "I said stay put! Your going to hurt yourself..." She looked wide eyed at the weapon just inches from her face and stayed on the couch.

"Well this isn't going to well." Donnie said. Leo just chuckled.

"Let me talk to her." I told them. I moved over to the couch, knocking Raph's arm out of the way, and sat next to her. "It's ok, they won't hurt you." I told her softly. She was still staring at Raph, wide eyed. "Not even Raph. I know he looks imposing but he's cool." I glared at him. "A bit short tempered at times though."

"Raph?" She asked me in a quiet voice. "Raph as in Rapheal? I'm looking at the Ninja Turtle Raph?" She took a deep breath and looked at them again. "From the movie, the new movie..." She looked at me in disbelief.

"Yeah, I know. It's shocking to see them in real life. Though I didn't hit them, I couldn't resist a poke though." Leo let out another chuckle, I'm sure he'd remeber that since he was the one I poked.

"I'm going crazy." She dropped her head into her hands.

"Well if you are, then we are roommates in the same nut house." I smiled at her as she lifted her head back up.

Just then Mikey came into the living room. He was about to say something, but stopped when he saw our visitor. "Oh...Hi I'm-"

"Mikey." She finished for him, still looking stunned. "And your Leo and Donnie..." She said to the others. She seemed to be calming down now.

"So, may we know your name?" I asked her gently. "Or should we call you 'The girl who tried to beat up, Raph'" Mikey snickered on that one but stopped as his red masked brother shot him a glare.

"Crystal...Cris. Just call me Cris." She said quietly.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Vicky."

"My horse!" She exclamined and stood back up, Raph pushed right back down. "Will you stop that!" She snapped at him.

"Will you quit getting up!" He snapped back.

She got up again and again Raph pushed her back down. She glared up at him and he returned the look. Leo just shook his head at it all. "Your horse is fine. He's being taken care of right now." He told her.

"My Dad is looking after him, trust me, he knows horses." I added.

Still glaring up at the large turtle she leaned back onto my couch. "So what happens now?" She asked.

The guys and I exchanged a quick glance. We really hadn't gotten that far in our thought process. "That is totally up to you." Leo told her softly. "We would greatly appreciate it, however, if you wouldn't tell anyone that we are here."

"I don't have anyone to tell." She replied just as quietly. "My Dad just passed. I have no other family and I don't have any friends here. I lived out of state, I just came here because he was sick."

"You live on the ranch next to our land." I said. "Mom told me that he had passed. I'm sorry for your loss."

She just nodded as tears filled her eyes. She took a deep breath to settle herself down. "Can she stay here?" Came, very unexpectedly, from Raph. Leo and I looked at each other in shock then looked at him. He was watching Cris' tear streaked face then caught us looking at him. "What?" He huffed. "She's alone, her dad just died and now she is hurt. It just makes sense." He growled at us.

"Not our choice to make." Leo told his brother, again with that slight smile on his face.

I hid mine by turning to Cris. "The offer has been made, I guess. Your welcome to stay here."

"Why would you let me? You know absolutely nothing about me?" She asked me once again stunned.

"I figure these guys can keep you out of mischief." I winked at her.

For the first time she actually laughed. "Alright then, I acccept." She then let out a big cheesy grin. "I'm not going to pass up the chance to hang out with the famous Ninja Turtles."

"Oh sooo cool!" Mikey said. "Another one who knows all about us! So who's your favorite!"

"Shut up, Mikey." The other three told him. I did however catch the quick flick of her eyes go towards Raph. Once again I hid my smile, this was going to be interesting.

"You feel like telling us what happened?" I asked her.

She sighed. "I was just taking Beast out for a ride, he was getting restless and I needed something to do besides just sitting around the house..." She trailed off a moment. Then she took a deep breath. "We were near the woods when a wolf or something made a racket right next to us and he bolted into the woods. And go figure my head meets the first branch we come across." She rubbed her head. "The next thing I know is that I'm in here."

Dad came walking back in. "That has to be the most stubbrn horse I have dealt with since Moe! And that horse died thrity years ago!" He stopped as he noticed Cris. "You ok? You need me to take you to the hospital for shock because of these guys? I heard you hoopin and hollerin all the way out there."

"Yes, I'm fine. I think I got that out of my system now." She smiled at him. "Thank you for taking care of Beast, he can be a handful."

"I noticed. Well at least you picked the right name for him. He tried to bite me four times and stepped on my foot five." He shook his head. "I'll handle him though. If I could deal with Moe, I can deal with him. You just worry about getting better."

"Thank you, sir."

"Just call me Gramps, everyone else does. Except that knothead sitting next to you, she calls me Dad."

I stuck my toung out at him. "That coyote we heard earlier spooked him." I then told him.

"I figured as much." He looked at Cris. "Where do you live. I'll see if I can get him home for you."

"Dad, this is Murry's daughter." I told him.

"Ooohhh. I'm sorry, hon. He was a good guy."

"Yeah he was." She replied.

"If you don't mind I'll get that fella out there back into your barn once he settles down. I don't really have a setup for him here."

"That's fine."

"Ok then. I better get back before the missus comes looking for me, with a stick." We laughed as he turned to go.

"He's a nut." I said shaking my head.

"But he's a lovable nut! Just like me." Mikey grinned.

"No, your just a pain in the ass." Raph growled.

"Speaking of pains," Donnie said turning to Cris. "I imagine you have a monster of a headache right now. I'll get you something for it." He walked back towards the lair.

After he Left she looked at me. "So do you want to entertain me with telling me how this came to be?"

"Shit, I should just write a story about it..." I told her with a smile. So we spent the rest of the morning telling her how this all came about. More than once she had that really dumbfounded look on her face. I could fully relate to that, how many times was I dumbfounded since that stormy night late last summer? Shit, dumbfounded is a common occurance in my home now. She would probably get numb to it real quick like I did. All in all a bad morning turned out to be an alright afternoon. By the time the kids came home we were talking like old friends. Hell, this might work out ok afterall.


	32. Chapter 32

Cris spent the next few days at my place until her ankle healed, then she became a regular fixture in my home. Honestly I was thrilled to have her there, turns out she was just as turtle nutty as me. Mandi was a very good friend don't get me wrong but she always laughed at my, turtle obsession I guess you could say. Cris on the other hand was just as bed as me, heh heh. We got along well. Mandi got along with her too, there was that slightly nutty side that we all three shared and the guys knew better than to hang around when we got together. Even Mikey couldn't handle our sillyness. We drove poor Raph up the wall but surprisingly he did try to tough it out when we were in our 'mood', until he lost his patience and stormed off, making us laugh harder.

I think it kind of shocked her once she realized Leo and I were more than just friends. Well, hell I think that would shock anyone honestly. I mean jeez come on? How many folks do you know actually have a relationship with a mutated turtle that could wipe out ten men on his own, and probably twenty if he were really pissed. Once she tour of the the other, hidden, half of my home, the lair. I think that blew her mind a little, her first time stepping through the portal was a bit scary for her. I had to hold her hand like Leo held mine, for the same reason. That lurch as you step through the first time is a little disorienting. Mikey gave her the grand tour, and got a smack on the head from Raph as he once again tried to go in there. I laughed, it was almost a repeat of the first time I was here. The only difference was showing her Splinter's room. I had asked Leo about that.

"It's not my place to show her." Came his soft reply. "Not this time."

"Then whose is it?" I asked him curiously.

"You'll see." Was all he would say and I left it alone.

Mikey was bringing Cris back to the living area as once again the alarm went off in Donnie's lab. I had grown used to the noise that just randomly popped up. Cris jumped about three feet int he air. "What in the hell is that?" She exclamied.

"Trouble." Came Leo's reply as he dashed to the lab.

She looked at me confused. "What?"

"Something is going on topside that is serious enough to warrent their full attention." I told her. Leo and Donnie cam both rushing out of the lab meeting Mikey and Raph at the door, then they were gone.

"Like what?" She asked me.

I pulled my gaze away from the door they had just disappeared through and met her eyes. "Think about it. You know what kind of trouble."

"You mean they are all real too? Shredder? The Foot? All of it?" She asked stunned.

I nodded my head. If she was going to play the game, she needed to know the stakes. "There are differences though. In the new movie all we have seen are the Shredder and The foot. Here there are more than just them."

"Like who?"

"So far I've had the pleasure of meeting Stockman," I tooke a deep breath. "and Bishop."

Her eyes grew wide. "Bishop is here? That guy is like super crazy."

"Trust me, I know." I said softly. "The dark Turtles are here now also, that's a recent one."

"This world just keeps getting better and better..." She mumbled.

"Yeah. but you can't say it don't get boring." I winked at her. "Come one we'll go wait at the house. They will let us know when they get back and the kids will be home soon."

We hung out at the house with the kids for awhile. Helped them with their homework, made supper. We were in the middle of getting them ready for bed when Raph came stumbling through the portal. He looked like shit. "Raph! What happened! Are you alright?"

"Don't worry about me." He snapped. Did the others make it back?"

Fear hit me hard in the stomach. "No. Your the first one that came in."

"Shit!" He flared. He raised a hand to punch my wall.

"Don't you dare fucking do it!" I snapped at him grabbing his arm. "Talk to me. What happened?"

"We were stopping a cargo heist at the docks and there were more of them than we thought. We got seperated. Leo told us all to fall back before we did." His words were coming out in short snapping bursts, he was angry, very angry. "I lost sight of them." He finally snapped off. Then he sighed in frustration. I have no idea where they are."

"Their phones?" I asked him.

"I tried." He almost roared. "They arn't working."

"That's because I took a nasty hit on my pack, Raph." Donnie said as he came in. "Their signals filter through it. No working pack, no phones."

"Donnie!" We both exclaimed. He looked as beat up as Raph. By now Cris was standing in the hallway watching quietly.

"What about Leo and Mikey?" Raph asked his brother.

The look in Donnie's eyes didn't bode well. He reached behind his back and pulled out Leo's katanas and Mikey's nunchuku. "They got caught." He said quietly.

Once again I found myself hanging off of Raph's arm trying to keep him from putting a massive hole in my wall. "That isn't going to help!" I snapped at him.

He looked at me stunned a moment. "Damn," He whispered. "you sound just like Leo."

"Why do you think we make such a good pair." I said just as softly.

Raph looked at me a moment longer, then sighed. He looked back at Donnie. "Do you know where they are?"

"Not yet. But let me check the lair computers. Maybe they activated their trackers, they would work because they can run through both my pack and the computers."

"Why can't you do that with the phones?"

He gave Raph a long look. "We don't have time for this. Let's just say there are different rules that apply and leave it at that." He turned back to the portal and went back to his lab.

Raph went to follow him but I grabbed his arm. "I'm coming with you."

"The hell you are!"

"The hell I'm not!" I flared back at him. "I didn't shy away from saving your asses once, what makes you think this time would be different?"

He looked at me, pissed as a mother fucker, and I just stared him down. Finally he just threw his hands in the air. "Fine!"

I turned to Cris. "Would you ple-"

"No." She cut me off. I blinked at her in shock. "I'm not going to watch the kids because I'm going with you."

Raph was on his way to the portal when he spun around again. "What the hell!"

"I'm going with you." She said again.

"It's to dangerous." His temper was starting to flare again.

She just stomped up to him until she was standing right in front of him, her eyes flashing. "Let me say this again, hard head. I am going with you." She jabbed a finger into his plastron with every word on that last sentance. She had guts I give her that.

Once again he threw his hands in the air. "Why don't you two just bring the whole family along?" He fumed.

"Don't be silly. The kids won't do much damage with their plastic swords." I grinned at his fuming face. "Might not hurt to call Casey though, maybe April too." He just looked at me, growled and stormed off.

Cris looked at me with a mischievous look in her eyes. "That was fun."

I returned her look. "You sure you want to do this. It's a whole different ball game than what you know."

"If you can, then so can I." Was her reply.

I decided then to show her. "Cris, I've already paid my price for getting involved." I lifted my shirt up to show her my scars.

She looked at them with wide eyes, then they narrowed. "Then so be it. I'm not going to back down from this." Yup, she was as every bit as stubborn as me. I knew I liked her for a reason.

"I just want you to know what you might be getting into." I said as I pulled my shirt back down. I then found my phone and called my brother. He quickly agreed to come watch the kids while I was gone. While waiting for him to show up I went to my room and got dressed in more appropiate attire. T-shirt and sweatpants wasn't going to do it. Cris followed me into my room.

"You got something I can borrow?" She asked me.

I gave her that, of course I do smile and opened the footlocker I kept my asps in. There was also what I now call my turtle gear inside. Lots of black clothing that was tight fitting, but maneuverable. Also warm. Wouldn't do much good freezing my ass off out there.

She chirped happily and we proceeded to get dressed, then we tied our hair back in a long braid. The last thing I belted on were my asps. She kind of looked at them funny. "You know how to use those?"

"I sure do. Why do you think they gave them to me." I looked at her. "Last chance. You sure you don't want to bail?"

"Hell no." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "I don't have anything to fight with though."

I paused for a momnet then asked her straight out. "Can you fight?"

"Well, I'm a little rusty." She admitted.

"Hey, I'm no ninja either." I laughed. "If your ready then let's go. I think I just heard Jim come in."

We walked out and my brother had indeed made it over. He looked at our warlike gear a moment. "Whose in trouble?" He asked.

"Leo and Mikey." I replied. I was trying to keep my spirits up with all the light hearted banter but deep down worry was gnawing at me. My brother knew me well enough to know that.

He sighed. "Go get 'em sis. Smack them a few times for me."

"If I get the chance." I replied.

By the time we got to the lair April and Casey were already there. Donnie was making the final repairs to his pack and Raph was standing there with his arms crossed, still fuming apparently. I walked up to him. "Raph, please, I told Leo before and I'll tell you now. I will not back down from helping. From what you said earlier you need all the help you can get."

He sighed, finally giving up. "I know. April just invited herself along too anyway. I didn't even call her, big mouth over there did." He pointed at Casey who shot Raph a grin.

"You think I wanted to hear that for the next two weeks? I'm not that stupid, buddy." Casey grinned.

Raph looked at Cris. "You need weapons. Come on." He led the way to the weapons wall then stopped. "Find something you can use."

She looked over the wall, her eyes scanning the different weapons there. Then finally plucked some kunai off of the wall. Raph looked at her. "Can you use those?"

"Pfft." She said then turned and threw one at the practice dummy, nailing it right where the eyes would normally be.

Raph blinked, even I was a bit shocked. "Well I guess that answers that." He said as she picked up some shurikan.

Then something else caught her eye. A bow, didn't look like it had been used in awhile but it was still well cared for. She picked it up then turned to Raph. "Want me to show you how to use this too?" I tired to hold back a laugh as he glared at her. She just grinned back at him then reached for the quiver hanging next to it. Finally she reached out and grabbed a hanbo. That she didn't look to comfortable with but I suppose it was better than nothing in a hand to hand fight. She probably didn't want to stab herself with the sharper objects.

Donnie came out of the lab and handed her a phone and a tracker. "We all have one. No one goes into a fight with out them." He told her. She quickly tucked them away, her tracker going into her bra also. April and I shared a grin on that as Donnie rolled his eyes. "Ok I'm ready. Pack is fixed and I can trace their signals, both phone and trcker. They managed to turn them on." He said. "Are we ready?"

Raph looked over his mismatched war party and sighed. "Why do I have the feeling that I'm going to regret this?" He mumbled. "Let's go." He turned and led the way out of the lair.


	33. Chapter 33

We made our way back to the docks. Raph had said that's where the trouble had been and their signals didn't move far from where they got seperated. All I could say was thank god Donnie had had the foresight to make those little devices, it made trying to hunt them down a lot easier. Otherwise it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

It felt weird with out the two missing brothers with us, incomplete I guess you could say. They were a team, they lived, trained and fought as one. To see them in any other combination just felt...off. Don't get me wrong, as individuals they could more than handle their own but they worked better together. My mind shuddered at the thought of the immense nunbers it must have taken to bring them to the point for Leo to call a waithdrawl. That was also the same thought that made me worry. Could we even get him and Mikey back? Would we able to pull this off? Normally Leo would be the one to supress my fears with his calm confidence. But Leo wasn't here and the worry started to eat away at me.

We were more quiet than usual, even Mikey's missing presence was felt. Through every situation he was always there with a joke, a snippy one liner, hell he wasn't even beyond a quick pester Raph moment, if it would lighten the mood. This strange combination of missing turtles left me feeling dark and empty. As much as I tried to hold onto it, I felt my hope slipping away. I raised my hand to brusk a small strand of hair out of the way that had slipped out of my braide and my ring flashed in the light of a nearby street light. That beautiful ring Leo had placed on my hand not that very long ago. I caught my self looking at it, once again admiring the saphire and dimond patterns on it. It so closely matched the leaf vine engraving on the weapons now riding in my belt. The two colors flowing as one over the gold band. I brought my other hand to it and began to spin it on my finger, trying to draw something I needed out of that little piece of jewlry.

"That is a very beautiful ring." Cris told me as she walked by my side. Raph and Donnie, carrying their brother's weapons, were up on the roof tops shadowing us. We were forced to take the streets. In the hustle the van had been left behind so we were forced to walk.

"Leo gave it to me." I told her softly. I gave it one last turn and then I let my hands fall taking a deep breath. I had to hold myself together. If he could do it for me, I would do it for him.

Finally, after a very long walk, we made it to the docks. Raph and Donnie had dropped down to join us as we moved in closer. "Which way Donnie?" Raph asked him.

"This way." He said and began to lead us in the direction we needed to go. We made our way slowly and carefully around the building and Donnie kept leading us closer to the water front. For a moment the panicked thought of them being thrown into the water ran trough my head. Sure they were turtles but still...

Donnie however turned to the right and began to follow the shore line, using various shipping crates as cover we moved on. Not long after that we began to see a lot of activity and not the good kind either. Raph and Donnie held us back behind the container were were hiding behind when they noticed just how much activity there was. "Now what?" Casey asked quietly.

"I'm working on it." Raph grumbled back.

"Where exactly are they?" I whispered to Donnie.

"Still about five hundred feet in that direction." He took a quick look around the container. "Raph, we might have to go up. There are containers set fairly close to each other here. Close enough to where they can jump them."

"Let's do it." He held his hands together fingers interlaced palms up and waited as Donnie stepped into them, then launched him up ontop of the container. He looked at us. "I'm going to send you guys up the same way. He will catch you." We just nodded. He set himself again and Casey went up first, then April. Apprantly they had done this before. Cris and I just looked at each other. "Oh well." I said "Here goes nothing pleae scoop me up off of the ground before you leave if I fall."

"Will you hush." Raph snapped. "Just hold yourself straight and push off with the foot you step in with. Keep your arms above you so he has something to grab. I'll give you a push from the bottom as you lift off. Now come on."

I sighed and tooka a couple of running steps and stepped into his hand. The next thing I knew I was going up and I tried really hard not to scream or squeal. Then I felt Donnie grab me and still using Raph's momentum he gave me giuded me onto the top of the container. I landed with barely a sound. Cris however didn't follow. I laid down on my stomach and peered over.

"I'm not doing it!" She whispered to Raph.

"Well I'm not leaving you here!" He snapped back. "Your the one that wanted to come along remember?"

"I'm not going up there!"

Even in the dark I could see Raph loosing his patience with her. "Why not?" He growled.

"I'm scared of heights." She admitted sheepishly.

He looked at her with a frustrated expression. "Are you fucking shitting me?" Even I had to drop my head in my palm on that one. How do you expect to hang with the guys if your scared of heights? I heard Casey groan softly behind me.

"No, I'm not fucking shitting you." She hissed at him.

"Fine. Go around the other way then." Raph told her. She turned and began to walk away from him and I saw his eyes narrow.

"Uh oh." I whispered to April. "He's up to something."

Raph quickly took of the strap of cloth off of his arm and moved in quickly and quiety behind her. He then wrapped it around her mouth and tied it so fast I almost didn't catch what he was doing. Without even pausing he then picked her up and literally threw her at Donnie, her muffled screams filling the air. Donnie reached out and caught her easily and set her down next to me, then he leaned over the side to help his brother up.

Cris pulled the gag off of he mouth. "I'm going to fucking kill you!"

The rest of us were trying really hard not to laugh as Raph just looked down at her. "I got you up here didn't I?"

Cris was shooting daggers with her eyes at him. Raph ignored her, instead looking at Donnie. "Which way."

"Same direction we've been going." He replied.

"Ok, Cris, I'm going to carry you over the tops of these containers. Do I need to gag you again?" Raph turned back to her.

"No." She sighed. He came over and picked her up. I couldn't help a slight chuckle as I saw her eyes were tightly shut and her face pressed against his chest. This was just to funny, one of those I wish I had a video camera moments funny.

Once he had her in a firm hold Donnie took off at a light jog and lead the way. We followed him close behind, the gaps inbetween the containers was easily managable for us to keep up with him. We continued on for a while until Donnie finally stopped at the last one and laid down on his stomach. We all took our cues from him.

"Well this is great.'" Casey muttered. "Now what?"

Raph lookeed at him. "Do you ever quit complaining?"

"Well someone has to be the annoying one. Mikey isn't here."

"I'll pop you like I do him too, if you don't knock it off."

Donnie glared at them and they shut up. He then looked around. "Over there." He pointed to a large, fenced in, yard filled with containers. There appeared to be an opening in the middle and there were lights set up to light that area up.

"Ok, now, how do we get over there?" April asked. She had a point, there was still a very large open area beween us and there. And a crap load of guys, just your basic thugs by the looks of it. I sighed in frustration, we were so close but were stuck where we were. Then I took a closer look at those guys and something caught my eye on all of them. "Oh no..." I whispered.

"What?" Casey asked me.

I turned instead to Cris. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing on those guys?"

She looked them over and it didn't take her long to see it either. They all had tatoos of dragons, purple dragons. We looked at each other. "Hun..." came out of both of our mouths.

For once it wasn't us being the confused ones but the others. "Who is Hun?" Raph asked.

"Bad news." I told him. "The gang is called The Purple Dragons and their leader is a man named Hun."

"In our world he is made out to be a really big, mean guy that even gave you guys a hard time." Cris added. "And that's in the cartoon version. I'd hate to seem him in real life."

"We have to get them out of there!" I said to the others.

Donnie had been looking around and he sighed in frustration himself. There was no way to get close and it was to risky to make a rush for it. There had to be a way, there just had too...but we were damned if we could find it. Then something caught Donnie's eye on the traking system he was using. "They are moving." He whispered. "They should be coming out of there soon."

We all glued our eyes to gate of that fenced in area, waiting. Suddenly we saw a delivery van pull up to the gate and waited for it to open, then it rolled out and turned in our direction, it had to pass by us to leave the docks. Donnie was watching his display carefully. "They are in there." He said.

"Then it's time we got them out." Raph muttered. "This may be our only chance." He got up and moved to the far side of the container, the rest of us following. The van was going to pass close by us, but not close enough to jump to it.

"We have to stop it somehow." Donnie said.

Cris unslug the bow and readied and arrow, she waited patiently until her target lined up and let it fly. The loud sound of a popping tire filled the air and the van swerved to a halt. "Does that make up for me freaking out earlier?" She whispered.

"We'll see." Raph mumbled. "We still need to get them out." By now there was a crowd gathered about the now stopped van. Some of the individuals were making fun of the driver as he stood there, baffeled as to why his tire was suddenly gone.

Suddenly a very large man pushed his way effortlessly through the crowd. "What happened?" He growled at the driver.

"I don't know, boss. My tire just exploded."

I tensed up, this had to be him...Hun. He was huge, I didn't think a human could get that large. I swallowed hard. "Get me another van over here." He told his men. "Get those freaks ready to move into the replacement vehicle." We watched as they opened the back door of the van. From our angle we couldn't see inside but had a good view at what was going on at the rear since it had pulled to a stop just across from us. Thankfully at this angle they were also out of view from most of the other goons floating around by the fenced in area. Maybe if we were quick enough... A couple of guys went into the back, and came flying right back out a few moments later.

"Ha ha! Didn't expect my lightning legs did you!" We heard Mikey shout. That immeadiately made us feel better, for a moment. When he didn't come busting out of the back of the van we knew there was still something wrong.

"Quite slacking and get them out!" Hun shouted at his men.

"Yes, Master Hun." Said another, this time they stormed the back of the van in a large number.

"Get your filthy hands off of my brother!" We heard Mikey yell again, this time with anger in his voice, and this time the van started to rock and bodies began flying out again. "Mess with a turtle while he's down. So not cool dudes!" I bit my lip, so far the only sounds we heard were coming from Mikey. There was no way Leo wouldn't be contributing, unless he couldn't. Something was wrong in there.

Growling, Hun walked up to the back of the van. "Looks like I need to teach the other one a lesson now." He said as he was about to enter the back. I looked at Raph, I think our time had just run out.

The large turtle launched himself off of the roof of the container, hit the ground in a roll and then handsprung himself over to Hun, his feet knocking the larger man away. Donnie had hit the ground right after him and went after the group that tried to jump Raph from behind. "Well it's about time guys!" Came Mikey's voice from the van, he however didn't emerge.

"Something is keeping them in the van." I said to the others. I didn't hesitate as I cralwed over the side letting myself slowly down, then when I couldn't lower myself down anyfurther I let myself drop. As careful as I was I still fell flat on my ass, luckly I choose the area between the two containers to make my decent so no one could see me make my clumsy entrance, except the giggling forms over me. I shot them the finger as I made my way to the edge of the container.

I peered around the corner over to the van, the front of it was clear since they all were dealing with the hubbub in the back. I quickly made my way over to the driver's door and went in, hoping it was the kind of van I needed. For once my luck was with me as I noticed the open space between the front seats, the driver's entrance to the back of the van. I was about to go through then quickly hit the floor as a leg shout out at me.

"It's me you fucking idiot!" I snapped at Mikey.

"Vicky?" He voice came from the back.

"No, I'm the god damn Easter Bunny!" He had came real close to giving me a monster head ache, I was not in a happy mood. I heard Casey laugh behind me as I once again made my way into the back. Mikey was up and alert ready to lash out again if need be, but only with his feet. His upper body had been bound with chains and he was standing over the prone form of Leo who laid still on the floor, chained the same way.

"What happened?" I asked him as I tried to find a way to get Mikey out of those chains.

"That big mountain man happened." Mikey said. "That dude hits like a freight train."

Casey came up beside me to help. We found the only way to get the chains off was to somehow get the lock of. I growled in frustration looking around the van, trying to find something I could use. "Cleaning and gardening supplies?" I asked in disbelief as I noticed the contents of the van. "What the hell is he running? A damn maid and gardening service?"

Casey bent over and picked up a set of gardening shears. "Hey if these work, I'm not going to complain." He walked over to Mikey and proceeded to beat the crap out of the lock with them.

"Ow...watch it, Casey, that hurts!"

"You know, buddy. I really missed that whining of yours." Casey said as he finally beat the lock off. The chains came off and Mikey went flying out the back of the van, making his presence known with a loud "WOOOOO HOOOO!" as he slammed into a group of thugs.

Then we turned our attention to Leo, who still wasn't moving. Casey did his kind of magic on this lock as well and, here too, the chains came off. Unfortunatly by now our presence in the van was now known and we started to get visitors in the van. Casey whipped out a bat and covered Leo and I.

"Come on, Leo. Wake up!" I shook him. I looked up as Casey got knocked back, the man that smacked him now coming for me. I didn't even hesitate as I popped out an asp and took it to his knee whith a loud crack. He wend down howling and Casey smacked him hard to shut him up. I turned back to Leo. "Come on..." I didn't like the way he looked, he had obviously taken a beating, a bad one. I looked out the back, around the thugs who were still coming in, looking for Donnie but he had his hands full, he wouldn't be able to help right now.

"Shit..." I said as I turned my attention to the thugs coming into the van. They were suddenly knocked over as Mikey came, literally, bowling back in. Casey was on them in an instant as Mikey came to a stop from his rolling next to me. He handed me Leo's katanas. "Mikey, I can't get him to wake up."

"Keep trying, there are to many out there for us to carry him out of here. We need to get him on his feet."

"Now how in the hell am I supposed to wake him up? It's not like he has an on/off switch."

"I don't know either." He snapped. For once even Mikey was frustrated. Then he softened his tone. "Just keep at it. If anyone can get him to come around, it's you." He then shot back out of the rear of the van.

I looked back down at his still form. "Leo, please..." I desperatly pleaded to him, but it went unanswered.

Casey went flying and crashed next to me on the floor. "Oh, man." He muttered. "That hurt..." I looked who to see who had just turned him into a rag doll. Hun had entered the van, "Damn it... Leo, wake up!"

"He isn't going to wake up anytime soon. I made sure of that when I beat him to sleep." Came Hun's deep voice.

I stood up and placed myself between the two, he would have to get through me to get to Leo. Considering the man's size I'm sure it wouldn't take him very long to do it either. Hun just laughed at my feeble attempt to keep him from Leo. "You are hardly worth my time." He snarled at me and proptly knocked me out of the way. Casey was right...that did hurt. I struggled to catch my breath after the air had been knocked out of my lungs.

Hun was standing over me now, he was reaching down to grab me when a small staff shot out and hit him in the side, with absoulutly no effect. "Are you fucking kidding me?" Cris said in exasperation, looking at her hanbo in disbelief. Hun turned and knocked her back into a pile of boxes, her weapon flying out of her hand. I was picking myself up off of the floor when a set of arms appeared around Hun's throat. April was hanging off off him trying, and failing to choke him out. He finally managed to reach over behind him and grab her and throw her over his head and she hit the floor next to me.

"I've had about enough of your meddling." He cracked his knucles as he walked towrds us. Suddenly a broom appeared be hind him in the air and came down on top of his head, hard. It broke in two at the impact but he just turned around as if nothing happened.

"Jesus what the hell are you made out of?" Cris snapped. "You must have a rock in there instead of a brain. Shit!" She tried to duck as he swung at her but his fist caught her and sent her flying back into her pile of boxes, this time she held onto the broken broom handle.

I quickly moved in while his back was turned and striked across the back of one of his knees, this time with better results as his leg buckled under him, but still not good enough as he turned on his knee to swing at me. One of Casey's bats flashed out and deflected the blow and I managed to dodge it.

Before he could swing again a bottle of toilet cleaner came flying in and hit him in the head. That was followed by a plunger, then a bottle of bleach came flying in. Cris was about to chunk a toilet brush at him next when he finally got his hands on Casey and threw him at her. They crashed together and fell back into the boxes. "Cleaning supplies?" I heard Casey say. "Your beating him up with cleaning supplies!?"

"I'm trying damn it!" She griped back at him.

April and I once again launched ourselves at the large human as his back was towards us, this time both of us hanging off of his neck. I hung on with one arm and tried to get a good hit in but was failing miserably. April wasn't having much luck either. We just could not seem to hurt this guy, I was starting to wonder if he was even human. Cris came in with her broken broom handle and jabbed it into his side, she actually managed to sink it in before he slapped her away, Casey came in right behind that swing and landed a blow on the same spot Cris did. This actually came with a grunt of pain. Hey, waddya know, we finally managed to hurt him. Only took us the tar getting whooped out of us before we could.

We paid for that hit though dearly. He knocked Casey back into the boxes and April and I followed close behind. As we tried desperatly to untangle ourselves the hanbo came swinging in once more, again on his now bleeding injury on his side. Cris quickly was sent to join us in the pile of boxes. I could faintly hear Mikey shout something outside but was paying to much attention to the large man walking towards us to notice what. I figured it out real quick when a large form came barreling into Hun. They both slammed into the wall hard next to Leo.

What happened next was a display of sheer force. We couldn't handle this oversized muscle factory, but Raph could. The largest turtle squared off with the freakishly large human and they traded blows. Hun threw a punch that swung towards Raph's face and he blocked it, then rolled inside of that arm and delieverd an elbow to the large human's face. He fell back to the floor but managed to kick Raph's feet out from under him. Hun then tried to get on top of Raph but he brought his leg up under the large human and flipped him off, sending him flying into the air to crash against another van wall. Once again the two large forms went at it, coming together in a flurry of blows.

I took that moment to get back to Leo, carefully watching the titan clash that was still dangerously close. Casey was up now, trying to help Raph when ever he got the chance. They were moving so fast and the space was so confined that it was hard for him to help with out getting into Raph's way. I looked out the back doorand Mikey and Donnie were doing the best the could to keep the other Dragons away from the van. Then the stuid guys remembered that there was another entrance. One came in from the front entrance and spotted me on the floor right away and began to move towards me. A flash of metal came flying in and slammed solidly into the man's shoulder. Then Cris came barreling in and knocked him back into the cabin. Quickly she closed the door and April found something to jam it shut with. I looked up at Cris. "Nice throw."

"Not to bad." She grinned at me.

I caught a movment out of the corner of my eye and pushed her out of the way as Casey came flying back in. Man if this kept up we might as well should just have wings. I looked over again at the fight, it was very obvious that Hun was gaining the upper hand, Raph was trying to keep the fight away from us and it was costing him. He would intentionally miss openings if it would send Hun our way.

One more time I looked down at the still form next to me. I laid a hand on his cheek and leaned in. "Leo. Leo please. We need you." I leaned forward to kiss his forehead then placed my own agaist his, closing my eyes. "Please." I sat like that for a moment with him then I let out a small sigh. It wasn't working, he was just to hurt.

Or so I thought. I opened my eyes to see his blue ones looking into mine, they were very clear and very alert. Suddenly he grabbed me and rolled with me out of the way as Raph came crashing in where we had been. Leo reached out to grab his swords that were laying nearby. Then he was on his feet, standing next to his brother to cover him as Raph picked himself up off of the floor. "About time you woke up." Raph said to him. "Have a nice nap?"

"Good enough." Came the reply. "I see you met my new friend."

"Yeah, he's a big pain in the ass, isn't he?"

"I'll show you freaks what pain is." Hun growled as he stalked in. Leo and Raph met him standing side by side, and once again blows started to fall. I moved out of the way the best I could ending up next to Cris. April and Casey were on the other side. With now three large forms fighting in the delivery van there really wasn't much room for us to evade anywhere so we all just tried to stay out of the way the best we could.

The brother's began to push Hun hard and got more and more hits in. He might be a match for one, two was pushing his limits. I could see it in his face that he knew this also. Suddenly he ducked under one of Leo's swings and rushed toward Cris and I, grabbing us. He turned back the the brothers holding each of us in a choke hold in front of him as a shield, he made his way back around and slowly began to back up to the exit at the rear.

Rage flashed in blue and amber eyes as they kept pace with him. "Let them go." Raph snarled at him.

"Now." Came Leo's deathly quiet voice.

"I don't think so. They seem to hold you in check pretty good. I think I'll keep them as my personal pets."

"The hell you." I muttered. I jabbed an elbow into his bleeding side just as Cris opened up his arm with a kunai. Distracted by the double shot his grip on us loosend and that was all that was needed. As one they moved in, Leo grabbing me and Raph grabbing Cris, and pulled us free. With out even slowing, and still holding onto us, they both brought a leg up and nailed him as hard as they could. This double dose of power gave Hun some impressive flight time...the landing not so much.

He few out of the van, past Donnie and Mikey who were still furiosly trying to hold the mob back, and crashed hard into his group of men, taking quite a few of them out. "Whoaa. I give him a ten for height!" Mikey exclamied. "But a zero for style. That landing was just tooooo sloppy."

"I'm glad you approve, little brother." Leo said as he moved out of the van.

"Leo! You alright? He beat you up pretty good."

"I'm fine." He looked over the battle field. "We need to get out of here." He said as he moved inbetween his brothers to help them.

"Back the way we came." Raph said pointing to the shipping containers. Cris just groaned.

Leo nodded. "Go!" Raph then began to break a path towards the containers with Casey. April, Cris and I followed close behind as the other three wrapped in behind us, forming a barrier. Finally we got close enough to the contaners and Raph didn't even try to do it with finesse, he just picked us up and threw us. Cris' screams were the loudest as she flew into the air then hit the top next to me with a loud "oof". I also was rubbing my elbow, Raph could throw pretty hard when he was excited. Casey came flying in next and landed with a rattle he turned and quickly caught April as she made her way up. Then the guys were next to us pulling us to our feet. "Run!" Leo snapped as he pulled me along.

And run we did. we followed the container tops back the way we came, with the Dragons pacing us on the ground. This time however when we reached the end there wasn't a dead end drop off waiting for us. Here on this end we had other options. As we got closer Leo pulled me up into his arms and he picked up more speed. He was heading for a nearby building, but had to jump a large gap to get to it.

"Oh no you don't!" I heard Cris yell.

"Will you just shut up!" Raph snapped at her.

"Don't tell me to shut up! Put me down!"

"I should have left you back there with Hun!" He griped back. "Now stop wiggling! If I drop you it's going to be a long way down."

"Oh lord." Leo mumbled as he made the leap. I just giggled.

Cris's scream behind us told us Raph was airborne. We ran on hopping from building to building slowly making our way out of the docks. Cris by now had grown silent and when I caught a glance at her she had her face buried into Raph's chest, her hands holding onto him in a death grip. Oddly he didn't really seem to mind.

Leo then changed his direction a bit. "Where are we going?" I asked him.

"Donnie would kill me if I left the van behind." He replied with a small smile.

Finally the boucing around ended and we walked over and peered down. There was the van. Leo, however, didn't go down right away, he waited and calmly studied the area. With good reason, four individuals came around from the far side. Apparently they were trying to get in, and not really making much progress. Donnie, who was holding onto Casey, made the quiet leap down and then they exploded into the figures. Once Donnie signaled the all clear the rest of us dropped down. Donnie had the van open by now and we all quickly piled in.

Leo gently put me down. Raph tried with Cris but she was coming out of her freak out daze and began to lash around, he ended up dropping her.

"You asshole!"

"You the one who wigged out you crazy bitch!"

"Did you have to drop me?!"

"You slipped because you were moving to much!"

"You did that on-" She cut off as another form hit the floor.

Leo had collapsed next to her. "Shit!" Raph snapped and pushed Cris out of the way, she went rolling toward the rear of the van. I dropped down on Leo's other side. "Donnie! Something's wrong with Leo." Raph called to the driving turtle.

"I can't stop here to check on him!" Came the frustrated reply. "This place is crawling with those guys."

"Then just get us out of here!"

"What in the hell do you think I'm trying to do!? Go sight seeing?"

We gently turned him over and I couldn't help but notice the blood coming out of his mouth now. "Damn it..." I whispered. "Donnie! Please!"

Cursing Donnie turned to Casey. "Get over here." Once Casey was next to him he slammed the van to a halt, toppling everyone over. Then jumped out of the seat. "Drive!" He snapped at Casey. Casey didn't need to be told twice, he hoped into the seat and gto the van moving again.

Pushing Raph and I out of the way, Donnie began to work on Leo. His muttered curses telling us he was very less than pleased with his older brother's injuries. The only thing we could do is stay out of the way and help if he needed it. It all hung on Donnie now, and I could tell by the look on his face that even he wasn'tsure if Leo would make it this time.


	34. Chapter 34

The waiting, that endless waiting. The one thing that can turn the strongest into a blubbering mass of nerves is wating. The fact that Donnie wouldn't let us in there was the worst of all. Yes, they had a remarkable healing factor but that didn't mean they didn't have their limits, if hurt bad enough they could die. Donnie had informed us all that this was right now a very real possibility. Mikey had told us of how Hun had relentlessly went after the blue banded leader, along with his massive amounts of Dragons until finally, Leo was overcome. Mikey himself got caught trying to distract them from the beating they had been giving the by now prone form on the ground. True to form Hun let out his rage and hate on the defensless, tormenting it until a new plaything arrived, Mikey. By then however Hun had grown bored with it all and Mikey was spared the same beating.

Besides the massive amounts of bruising and scrapes on the outside, Leo had suffered so much internal damage at the hands of Hun, more than any of us had at first realized, and he had been bleeding internally for awhile. Sure they had their shells on the back and plastron on the front but their sides were vulnerable, and Hun made full use of that. How he managed to wake up and fight his way out was a mystery even to Donnie. If I could just see him, hold him, something. But he had been locked behind Donnie's lab door for hours now and I didn't dare enter. I sat on the couch with my knees brought up tight against my chest and my arms wrapped around them. I had already cried to the point where I couldn't cry anymore, now I just sat there, numbly, waiting. Waiting for him to either heal, or die.

Mikey sat next me and he was just as quiet as I was. He didn't joke, tease or harass anyone, there was no TV, radio or skateboarding going on with him. This was not the time and his fun loving brain fully understood that. His eyes reflecting the worry for his brother that I felt. He however had his eye on another worry also, me. He wouldn't leave my side at all. He held me when I cried, now he sat next to me in quiet support, giving me my space for now. But he was always there. Watching me, and waiting.

April and Casey stayed. There wasn't much they could do but they were not about to leave. They were not going to leave us to face what might happen alone. They knew the stakes, we all did, and they understood their presence might be needed if...it happened. They fully understood how close we all were to each other and knew the devistation that would happen if Leo passed, they had seen it happen with Splinter. Both of them were prepared to try and keep this family together if the feared fate happened. They were ready, and waited.

Raph, the hot tempered, impulsive, largest and most intimadating of all four of of the brothers was loosing it. He did not leave the lair, would not leave, could not leave. Like the rest of us he was forced to stay in the living area, tied down by the worry that held us all in our places. He stayed there to ride out the storm, which ever way it decided to blow. Normally one to go out onto the rooftops of the city if he suffered an emotional overload, this inactivity was ripping him apart. He paced the lair like a furious, caged animal, lashing out randomly at walls, furniture and anything else that came into his way. He would not however leave his brother. He paced, and waited.

Cris watched us all with concern but her gaze mainly went to Raph in his near uncontrollable state. He was the only one who was really in danger of doing himself harm at this point. All of his discipline and control was gone and he operated right now on pure emotion, and his usual default emotion was anger. Mikey told us there was only one other time he had been like that, the day Splinter had died. It was so basic, so primal a rage that none of us could get to him. Casey had tried and had been nearly sent flying by a very powerful, but rage clouded, clumsy, swing. Raph stopped his pacing and it seemed like he was once again about to smash his already bloody hand against the wall.

This time however Cris was standing there. Casey moved to get up and go get her, he didn't want Raph to hurt her by accident. But something held him back, held us all back, as we watched. She just looked up calmly at him, a challenge in her hazel eyes, as if daring him to let go of his anger, asking him to feel something besides rage, subbornly refusing to move out of his way. He stood there in front of her, his fist trembling in the air as it ached to lash out at something, his amber eyes locked into hers. They stood like that for a few moments, the rest of us holding our breath but unable to get up as we were held in place by something we could all feel.

Suddenly his hand did lash out, he grabbed her and pulled her close to him. He lowered his head and met her in a fiery kiss, it seemed like he was trying to draw strength from her to try and feel something more than anger, something more than pain. The kiss lasted for a few moments and when he pulled back he had tears in his eyes. Unable to contain himself anymore he collapsed onto the floor and let his rage wash out of him. Cris just quietly sat down as close as she could, doing her best to comfort the large turtle who now had his face buried into her long light brown hair, his tears for his brother running down his face.

Sitting there watching them, watching Raph, as the minutes ticked by we all had to fight back our own tears. Happy that he could let go of his rage, but still upset for the reason he was in that state to begin with.

All eyes swung to Donnie's lab as we heard the door finally swing open. Donnie walked out slowly, his face a blank tired mask, and came over to where I was sitting. I stood up as he came closer, he stopped in front of me, looking over my tired, worried face. He then pulled me close to him in a hug. "He's going to live." He whispered softly into my ear. Now I knew why he had held onto me as my legs gave out in relief, tears flowed down my face again as I cried into his chest, my own fears and worries flowing out of me.

As he still held me he looked to the others. "He's going to make it." He said again so they could all hear. "I'm not going to lie to any of you, I did almost loose him a few times but he is stable now." He looked around at the tired faces that were now crowded around us. "All of you, go get some sleep. I'll tell you more later but right now you are all on the verge of falling over." His eyes caught sight of Raph's bloody hands. "Except you. Lab, now." He turned, still supporting me and guided me into the lab. He knew full well I wasn't going to go anywhere right now but to Leo. Raph followed us into the lab with Cris, his bloody hand holding onto hers.

Donnie led me to where Leo was laying and sat me down in a chair he had placed there, then he went to tend to his brother's mangled hand. You could almost mistake him for sleeping, his face was tilted slightly to the side facing me and his body was relaxed. His breathing, however seemed so shallow to me. He was covered in bandages and bruises which also took away from the sleeping effect. I couldn't help but look at those bandages, there had been no major cuts on his outside, which meant Donnie had to cut him open to get to the bleeding to stop it. There were alot of bandages...

I gently reached out and took his large hand into my own, it felt so cold and that shocked me. The hands that could fill me with fire were ice cold. Again a tear made it's way down my face as I sat there next to him, the realisation that I had almost lost him once again hitting me very hard. Trying to feel some comfort from him I gently raised his hand to my face and pressed my cheek against it. I just wanted to feel him right now, to take in the fact that he would be ok, his hand was cold but it was alive. I closed my eyes as I let my face warm his hand as I held it close. I opened them again as I felt it move on it's own, brushing the hair out of my face and behind my ear. I looked at his face and saw his eyes watching me. "Leo." I whispered softly and he gave me a small smile. He then took my hand in his and sqeezed it very softly.

Then his eyes shifted behind me. Donnie, Raph and Cris had heard me it seemed and had came over to the bed. "Hey, fearless." Raph said to him. "Welcome back." Then he smiled softly. "You look like shit." Cris slapped his arm.

"Feel...like shit." Came the quiet reply. Then his eyes noticed Raph's now bandaged hand holding hers and he smiled again. "Took you long enough."

Raph blushed, he actully blushed! Holy cow I really needed to start carrying a damn camera with me... I never thought I would see the day... Raph blushing. I tried really hard not to giggle at the sight. "Yeah, well, you know how stubborn I can be."

Leo's voice seemed to drift off as he whispered. "Perfect...match."

Raph just chuckled. "Get some rest. You can tease me later."

"Promise?" I did laugh this time. If he could crack back at Raph then he would be fine.

Raph just laughed and then placed his hand on Leo's shoulder a moment, then he and Cris quietly left the room.

"Raph's right Leo. You need to rest." Donnie told his brother.

Leo just barely nodded and closed his eyes, soon after I could feel his grip on my hand loosning. Shortly after he was fast asleep. Donnie then turned his attention to me. "I'm assuming your going to insist on staying here."

"You assume correctly. I'm not going to climb into the bed with him this time though. I don't want to hurt him trying to make us both fit."

"I figured as much. I'm so glad I made some modefications. Seems like we are going to have a lot of sick bed sharing going on around here now." He shot a grin to where Raph and Cris had walked out the door. I watched curiously as he walked around to the other side of the bed and undid some latches and pulled out another bed.

"You sneaky bastard..." I grinned at him.

"Hey I had to plan for stubborn women." He winked at me. "Hop on up. I'll get you some pillows and blankets." Soon I was suggled up in the surprisingly compfy bed. I wanted to hold Leo close but I didn't because I didn't want to run the risk of hurting him. I would just have to make due with laying next to him. I finally let my tired body settle down and let the sound of Leo's breathing, that came close to ending not that long before, lure me into sleep.


	35. Chapter 35

Leo slept. His body had kicked into healing overdrive and that had in return put him into a healing coma. For three days now he had been out. No movement besides the rise and fall of his chest, no sound besides the passing of air in and out of his lungs. For three days I didn't leave his side, I couldn't. The others had tried again and again to get me to come out, for a meal, movie time, anything but I just kept my silent watch over him. Not even my children could pull me away at this point. Does that say a lot about my parenting skills? Probably not, but I just wasn't strong enough to leave him. I had almost lost him. After a life time of betrayal and heartbreak I had finally found the one being who made me feel alive, who wouldn't do anything to hurt me, who had opened my eyes to love again and I had almost lost him. No I wasn't strong enough to leave his side right now, that close call had effectively glued me either to the bed or to the chair sitting next to it.

Sure, I had always known loosing him was a possibility, loosing any of them was. This wasn't the TV shows where where they would live through every situation. At anytime one of them could find that one fight they could loose their life in. I had thought I was prepared for that scenario, I was wrong, so very wrong. This had hit me way harder than I thought it would. And I had pulled myself away from everyone to try and come to terms with it. The others understood, I believe, what I was dealing with. They kept up with the kids and everything else for me, letting me have the time I needed to come to terms with this. For once in a very long time, I pushed everything else out of my mind and worried about what I needed. And what I needed was lying unresponsive in front of me. I needed Leo.

And there it was. I needed him, needed him more than I had ever realized. He had somehow ninja stealthed his way so deep inside me that I wasn't whole with out him. I would tangle with Hun all over again if I had to, for him. Finally, I think I finally fully understood exactly what he had gone through that night. That night where he had wiped out a squad of Bishop's men and vehicles, that night he had faced Bishop alone, that night I had almost died in his arms. The whole scene played out now differently in my mind as I brought the memories out of their deep storage I had placed them in. Leo hadn't just been crying out of fear for me, he had also been crying because he was about to loose a piece of himself. A piece he needed just as bad as that piece, I now understood, I needed from him.

Donnie had been watching me as much as Leo these last few days. He did his best to make sure that I ate and slept but he really didn't push his mother hen routine. He knew I needed this right now, I guess. He let me keep my pretty silent watch over Leo, even though it really wasn't necessary, he was there after all. His calm amber eyes were on me now as I sat there, I think he knew exactly what I was dealing with at that moment. This was the first time I had ever been put into this situation, but I know for a fact it wasn't the first time for him.

He watched as a tear started to slowly make it's way down my face and that's when he got up from his desk and came over to the chair I was sitting in. He took my hand and gently pulled me out of my chair and I collapsed onto his chest. This time not crying because Leo had almost died, but crying because a part of me almost had. If Leo would have passed, something inside me would have gone with him and I can honestly say I didn't know if the part that would be left behind would be able to cope. It was a scary thing to process, the fact that your so bound together to another being to the point that you would break if they left. You wouldn't just grieve their passing, it would literally break you. That's a hard thing to face, especially when you came so close to that point.

"I was wondering how long it would take you." He said softly to me as my crying settled down. "Leo faced that same thing already. He figured it out a bit quicker than you though."

I just stayed quiet for a little, still leaning onto him, needing the support he was offering. Finally I gave him a quick squeeze in thanks and pulled back. I looked up at him with a small smile. "Do you know everything?" I teased him.

He sighed as he returned my gaze. "The only reason I know that is because he broke down in front of me himself. He was in the same situation you are in right now. He had to take a good hard look at what he was exactly about to loose, and it scared him then just as much as it does you now." Then he did smile. "And I couldn't give him a hug, he wouldn't turn you loose long enough." He paused a second. "Not that he would have let me anyway. He probably would have thought it wouldn't go well with his 'strong, tough, leader' persona."

I laughed. "That's not fair. Picking on him and he can't even fight back."

"Who in the hell said I play fair?" He grinned. "You think going into a fight with a extendable bo staff is fair? I can't tell you how many teeth I knocked out pushing that little button. I'm smart enough to know how not to play fair and get away with it."

I just shook my head in amusement and sat back down in the chair. Once again I reached out to take Leo's hand in my own and just waited as he slept on. It was very late by now, and the lair was quiet. Everyone else had already gone to bed by the sounds of it. The only sound was the sound of Donnie clacking away at his keyboard. The minutes just ticked slowly by as I watched the sleeping form next to me. He was so far gone that he hadn't hardly moved at all, when he did finally wake up he was going to be one stiff and sore turtle. I laid my arms on the bed, with one hand still holding his, and rested my head down on top of them. I wished so bad he would wake up but I knew he needed this to heal. Still didn't change the fact that I missed him. Yes, he was lying right there in front of me but it wasn't the same. I sighed and closed my eyes. I missed him so much.

I woke up and I startled myself. I hadn't even known that I had drifted off to sleep and waking up after that spooked me. Especially since I wasn't in the same spot I fell asleep in. Before I could wrap my sleep numbed fright filled mind around the fact that Donnie must have placed me into the bed sometime last night, I felt a pair of arms tighten around me, holding me down. Slowly it sank in, I wasn't laying down, I was propped up against someone who was sitting up in the bed himself, with his arms wrapped around me. I turned my head and looked up to meet a pair of blue eyes. "Jumpy this morning, aren't you?" Leo said with a smile.

I couldn't help it, I twisted around and threw my arms around his neck and buried my face into his chest. His arms tightened their hold on me as he placed a kiss into my hair. We stayed like that for a few moments, just holding each other close.

I heard Donnie chuckle as he walked over. "I think seeing you up just made her feel a whole lot better."

"I see that." Came Leo's reply.

I sat back a little, but still close enough for him to hold me. "How long have you been awake?"

"Long enough to see you passed out on the side of the bed." He smiled. "I made Donnie put you up here with me. That didn't look to comfortable."

I glared at them. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Because you were tired." Came his calm voice. "Donnie told me you haven't hardly left the room. I knew you needed sleep and I let you."

He was the one that had gotten beaten within an inch of his life and he was worried about me getting sleep? I didn't know if I should be pissed, or touched. I just settled on both, I gave him a glare then a kiss. He just chuckled at me, pulling me into another hug. This time I couldn't help a few tears of relief falling from my eyes and he brought his hand up and softly brushed them away. "It's, alright." He whispered to me. "I know what you went through."

"Leo, my man! I brought you some breakfast. I brought enough for both of you." Mikey came waltzing in with a large tray in his hands. "Awww lookit, she finally woke up." He smiled. "You were one tired chicka, chicka. "

I smiled at him. "Yeah, I guess I was at that."

He snorted. "No guessing about it. You were knocked the fuck out. I heard you snore all the way in the kitchen. I thought Raph was the loud one, jeeez."

I blushed as Leo threw a pillow at him, almost knocking the try out of his hands.

"Give me that." Donnie took the tray away from him. "If your going to pester my patient you can get out."

"Just trying to get his blood flowing. Speeds up the healing process." Ginning Mikey left the lab, but not before another pillow came flying in.

"Alright, master of the pillow kung fu. That's enough out of you too." Donnie told Leo as he placed the tray down. "Eat." Then he went and retrieved the fluffy missiles and plopped them back on the bed. "Sometimes you guys are worse than a bunch of babies."

"Sometimes?" I asked him. "Slight understatement there, buddy." Donnie chuckled.

Breakfast was quiet after that and when we were done Donnie took the tray back to the kitchen and we settled back down, again with me propped against him. It was such a comforting pose after the last few days of not being able to really hold him. We really didn't talk much, just laid there taking comfort in each other's presence and at that moment that's all we needed.


	36. Chapter 36

"Ow! You didn't have to hit me that hard!" Cris said as she sat on the dojo floor, rubbing her shoulder where Raph had just nailed her.

"Your the one who wanted me to hit you. So I hit you." He looked down at her. "I thought you said you knew how to fight?"

"I do! I'm just a little rusty." She replied.

"A little? I heard you squeaking all the way over here."

"Oh shut up!"

"What's the matter? Truth hurt?"

Leo just shook his head at the display as he swung a practice stick at my left side, my non dominant hand.

I tried to bring my asp up to block but was way to slow and he got me in the side. "Son of a bitch!" I exclaimed as I dropped my asp, clutching my side.

It had been about two weeks since Leo woke up. Raph had since given him a detailed report on our bumbling rescue effort. This morning he had politely told me it had been put off long enough. "You want to help, you are going to train." Were his exact words actually. His posture didn't leave any room for arguments, standing there with his arms crossed and a whole new, no nonsense, look on his face. Raph, standing next to him, had looked at Cris. "That goes for you too, firecracker."

I knew Leo the lover, brother, leader, fighter, protecter and father figure. Now I'm meeting Leo the trainer and he was an asshole.

"Again." He said stepping back to let me pick up my asp. He was concentrating on my left side, they had made me two asps and he was damn sure going to make sure I could use them both, at the same time. I was right handed which meant he was focusing on my left side. Once I was set he came at me again this time I got the asp up in time but it spun out of my hand when the stick hit. I growled in frustration.

"Again." He said once again stepping back. We had been dong this awhile now, well over an hour and for someone who was not in the best physical shape I was really having a hard time. I was getting tired, frustrated and if he said 'Again' one more time I was gonna slap him, well try to anyway. But still he pushed me on, refusing to end the lesson. Raph was pushing Cris just as hard.

On the other side of the dojo Cris once again hit the mat. "Too slow." Raph told her. "Get up and do it again."

"How many times are we going to do this?" She asked him, anger creeping into her voice as she got up.

"Until you get it right." He snapped, then swung at her again and once again she hit the mat.

There was no doubt about it they were hard trainers. They didn't pull their punches and they had no qualms about telling you your weakness, and they would use your anger against you. I had finally lost my patience and was able to block the stick as it came in but I hit it harder than I should have. My arm swung out wider than I had intended and Leo's stick came right back in and this time I also found myself on the mat.

"Get up." Raph snapped at Cris as she was also sprawled out on the mat again.

"Fuck you." She gasped, trying to get the air back into her lungs. She fell hard enough to knock the wind out of her.

"Maybe later. Now get up." He watched her intently as she struggled to get to her feet. "What's the matter? A simple block to hard for you to remember?"

"Oh shut the fuck up." Cris growled at him.

"Why don't you come over her and make me." He replied. "If you can." He shot his arm out and hers came up in a block, he then brought in another swing and this one too was blocked. His kick however knocked her back to the mats.

Leo had by then nailed me in the ribs again. "God damn it..." I moaned as I rolled on the mat, holding my rib cage. Yup he wasn't going to hold back. He wasn't going to pound me full force but he was definitely going to make me work. I would either learn, or get hit. I decided I wanted to learn as I was really tired of getting hit. I picked myself up off of the floor with a determined growl and again picked up my asps.

"Again." He narrowed his eyes at me as I set myself. He came at me in a rush and I blocked the swing, and the next. He then brought his other arm in and I blocked that one as well. The fourth one I couldn't block however and I braced myself for the impact, but he pulled his stick up short. I stood there trembling from exhaustion, my breathing coming in tired gasps, with the stick just inches from my side. "Enough." He said calmly pulling the stick back. I collapsed to the floor, my body unable to take anymore.

"Holy shit..." Cris said. I looked up to see her and Raph watching us.

"She's as quick to learn as you are, cupcake." Raph said to her.

"If you would have blinked you would have missed it." Mikey said admirably from the wall where he and Donnie were leaning, watching.

"On both of them." Donnie agreed. "They still have a very long way to go though." He looked at me as I sat gasping for air on the mat. "A very long way."

Leo had knelt down next to me, once again the caring lover. "Are you alright?"

"No... but I'll live." I looked up at him slightly confused. "Are we done?"

He gave me that half smile of his. "For today. You learned your lesson, you managed to block my hit and kept me from hitting you."

"That's all I had to do was block one stupid little hit?" I asked him in disbelief.

"If it was so easy, then why did it take you so long?" He asked simply.

"Because you a friggin master ninja! How do you expect me to-" Then it dawned on me. I had blocked his strike. A strike that he wasn't holding back on, plus a few more. And I was tired and pushed beyond my limit when I did it.

"Exactly." He said with a smile as he saw the lights go off in my head. "That was the point. To push you as far as you could go and more. If you can block that on your last legs then the next time it will be easier." He helped me up then addressed both of us. "Never underestimate what your body can do, it has more stored inside than you realize. You just need to learn to get past that barrier that you can't when you think you can't and you will find out that you in fact can."

"Whoa, that was so deep it confused me." Mikey said.

Donnie looked at him. "If your tired, hit harder." Was the simple translation.

"Got it."

Leo turned to Donnie. "I'll hand them over to you now. Make sure we didn't bust them up to bad."

Donnie pushed himself off of the wall. "Come on you two. Let's got get you checked out, before your so stiff and sore you won't be able to move."

We passed inspection but we had bruises on us. If we ever had it in our heads that they would go easy on us, those bruises reminded us otherwise. Fucking jerks. And if we thought we would get out of training because we looked like plum halfbreeds we were mistaken there as well.

"Move your ass!" Raph snapped at us the next day. Ropes...they had us climbing ropes. I haven't climbed a rope in years. "You think we will be able to carry you all the time?"

"I dunno," I mumbled. "I kinda like it that way."

Cris giggled. "It was kind of nice." I couldn't hold back a giggle of my own.

Suddenly we both quit laughing as a very sharp point made it way onto our bottoms. "I said move. Get up that damn rope." Raph said quietly.

Grumbling to ourselves something along the lines of making Raph eat his own sais we pulled ourselves up. At least they were nice enough to give us ropes with knots tied into them, still didn't mean it was easy. I felt like I was in basic training all over again, with ninja turtles as drill sergeants. We actually made it to the top, about thirty feet or so, when Cris looked down. Then her face went white and so did her knuckles on her hands. She quickly closed her eyes.

Shit, I knew what was happening, her fear of heights had hit her. I looked down at Raph and Leo and they were watching us intently. I sure hoped they knew what they were doing because I wasn't able to get her down, not with out falling myself. But I wasn't going to go back down the rope and leave her there either. They just stood down there and watched us. What the hell? Weren't they going to get her down? They were the ones who pushed us up here.

Well fuck it, if they wouldn't help her, I would. "Cris, look at me." She opened her eyes and kept them glued to my face. "You can do this." She was still frozen on that rope. "Do you really want, Raph to come up here and get you? He'd never let you live that down." That got through, I saw something flash in her eyes and she slowly made her way back down. I looked down real quick and saw that they were still standing there but Raph had moved under her, a slight look of worry in his eyes.

By the time we got about half way down my arms were starting to tremble, but I wasn't going to leave her until we were both at the bottom. Leo's eyes narrowed and he moved under me well, at least they were willing to catch us instead of letting us splat all over the mats. I can honestly say I was furious with them by the time I got down. "Why the hell didn't you go get her! You know how she feels about heights!"

"Two reasons." Leo said calmly. "First, exactly how would us going to get her make her over come that fear? Second, you went up as a team and you come down as a team." Well that simple explanation just shot my pissy boat out of the water. "We expect the same here as we would out there, if you can't look out after one another in a calm setting then that leads to trouble when it gets hectic."

"But you already know we would do that." I said.

"Yes, I do. But it never hurts to reinforce it. Any chance you get to practice it makes the whole bond that much stronger. The stronger we are as a team the better chance we stand." Again plain, simple logic. But one that had to be pointed out to me, there was a lot more to this than I had originally thought. I was so lost in thought of the simplicity of it that I almost didn't hear Leo say. "Now, let's continue where we left off yesterday."

Cris and I just groaned. This was going to be a long day...


	37. Chapter 37

My days now seemed to not have enough time in them. Between kids, chores, work and getting my behind thrown across the dojo on a regular basis I was wore out, and aching. The guys were a hard bunch to train under and I do mean all of them. Everyone one of them beat the crap out of Cris and I on a regular basis as if our life depended on it, because it did. Normal trainers bring you up on your skill slowly, never pushing you to the point that the guys did. Everyday they pushed us way past the point of exhaustion, they pushed us to the point of collapse. I didn't complain about it, to much, I knew the stakes here were so much higher than a simple karate trophy. My life was the prize I got to show off. Leo had been right, so far I had been extremely lucky, I understood that. It didn't mean however that this was easy for me. Honestly there were days I just wanted to give up on the whole thing, but I stuck it out.

Today Mikey was drilling me and Leo was tossing Cris around like a rag doll. If you think he would go easy on me because of his laid back nature you are sorely mistaken. I made the mistake thinking that and found myself on the mat, holding my arm in pain.

"You brought your arm to far forward. Left you wide open for a good smack." He came over to help me up.

I sighed and turned to face him. Our lesson had just begun and I still had a lot more of mat tumbles to go. He came in again on my left side, I was still nowhere near good enough with my left hand and that was their main focus. This time I blocked the stick coming in and he pulled it back then brought it in lower bringing it upward to my body. I quickly twisted the asp and brought it down and managed to block that one as well. Mikey twisted his own stick and swung my arm up trying to fling my arm out wide, leaving me open and I brought my other arm in to block the incoming swing as I brought my left hand back in my own underhand swing only to find his arm had already moved away "Shit..." I muttered as I knew what was going to happen next. The stick came in above my now badly out of position arm and cracked into my side. For the upteenth time in the last few days I was gasping for air on the mat.

Frustrated beyond my patience I threw my asp across the dojo, almost knocking Cris in the head as she went tumbling in it's line of fire. Leo's quick hand saved her from a nice goose egg. Leo looked our way, and I could see anger in his eyes. He sorely disapproved of random acts of uncontrolled out bursts, especially if it almost got someone hurt. At that point I was to frustrated to care, hell I was silently dareing him to say something. I needed a good fight, a fight that I could actually win, maybe, ah hell who was I kidding...

Leo was about to grant me my wish as he came walking over, until Mikey stepped in his way. "I'm her trainer today, Bro. I'll deal with it." He looked up at his brother's not happy face. "I insist.". He held out his hand for the asp that Leo now held in his hand. I couldn't help but wonder if he had been planning on using it on me.

Leo slammed the asp in Mikey's hand and I couldn't help a little cringe. I must really have pissed him off. Composing himself he went back to Cris, well I hope he composed himself. She was going to have it rough if he didn't.

Mikey turned back to me, flipping the asp in the air and catching it as he watched me for a few moments. He, too, seemed to be a little pissed and for some reason that made me feel more like an idiot than Leo yelling at me would have. Now I was wondering if he would hit me with it.

"You want this back?" I nodded, still to pissed to speak at the moment. "Then come and get it." He twirled it in his hand then held it in a ready pose.

"Alright, I will!" I snapped at him moving in. The one turtle you don't want to go against in a rage filled attack was Mikey. Yes, he was the smallest but also the quickest and he would use that anger against you in a heartbeat. Lord knows he had enough practice on Rahp over the years. If I thought I had it rough before, he quickly showed me just how much they were actually holding back for us. He didn't hit me once as I released my pent up frustration out on him, he didn't have too. He did however trip me, knock me over, dodge my blows and finally caught my arm and slammed me into the mat. And he did all of that with one hand while in the other he held the asp I was trying to get back. Once again I found myself lying on the mat, this time I didn't even bother to get up. My frustration had been let out on him but now I felt something else, defeat. I was about to give up on myself and I hated myself for it.

Mikey crouched down over me and pulled me up into a sitting position. I couldn't even look him in the eye as I said. "I can't do this, Mikey. Who the hell am I trying to kid here. I'm thirty six, I'm to old for this."

"Well, that mind set isn't going to help anything." Was his reply. "Look, I know we are pushing you hard. Very hard. Like Master Splinter would be proud of us hard. But we won't push you to what you can't handle." He turned my face towards his. "If we didn't believe you can do this, we would't be putting all this time and effort into helping you." He grinned at me. "We fully understand your not going to be a ninja but by the time we are done with you, you'll be able to do more than get cheap shots in." He held out his hand, offering to help me up. "I won't give up on you, if you don't give up on yourself."

Sighing, I took his hand and he pulled me up. "Now, you still have an asp to get back. Family rule, you throw it away in anger you have to fight to get it back." He grinned at me.

"It is not." I told him.

"It is now."

"You fucktard." I laughed and moved in. I did try, I really did, but he was too good and having to much fun keeping it from me. The frustration I felt earlier was gone and we had more laughter in our little game of keep away. I actually did manage to get a few hits on him now that I was thinking with a clear head. Still spent a lot of time on the mat too though. Good natured or not he wasn't just going to give it back to me. He said I had to fight for my asp and he meant it.

I was moving in with a strike aimed at his arm when the lights suddenly went out. Thrown off balance by the sudden lack of vision I stumbled in the now pitch black dojo. Mikey's quick reflexes quickly caught me and made sure I wouldn't fall.

"Donnie!" Raph's voice rang out in the lair. "What the hell did you break now!"

"It wasn't me!" Came the reply.

"What the hell?" Mikey muttered. "Well this isn't good..."

"You think?" I replied.

"Come on." Mikey took my hand and guided me through the lair to the lab, easily finding his way in the dark.

"What happened Donnie?" Came Leo's voice in the darkness.

"As far as I can tell there was a major power surge in town. I had just noticed it right before the light's went out."

"So it's not just us sitting in the dark then is it?"

"No, I imagine a far sized part of town is out of power right now."

Something else had caught my eye. "Donnie the portal is down. I can't go home..."

I heard a sigh in the darkness. "I know. And that shouldn't have happened either. Something is interfering with it, again from topside."

"But the kids will be home soon. I have to get back!"

"I'm already working on it. Just hang tight a few minutes." Suddenly there was a little bit of light as he played with his arm display, it's soft blue glow lighting up his face. "I really hope your brother is on his computer right now." He muttered in my direction. He finished what he was doing and then waited. "Come on, Jim. I know you can figure this out." Then there was a flicker and something popped up on his screen. Donnie smiled, "Your brother catches on quick. He got the message. He knows your stuck here, he'll get the kids."

"Good now with that out of the way, lets focus on this." Leo said, going into leader mode. "Where was this surge you spotted earlier?"

Donnie left the screen up to give us some light, more for the sake of Chris and I than for them I think. "In the general vicinity of the Sachs building."

"Oh great..." Mikey muttered.

"And the portal interference?" Leo asked.

"I don't know, but I would hazard a guess to say the same."

Leo narrowed his eyes. "Gear up." Was all he said. Cris and I looked at each other, not sure if that was meant for us too. I sure hoped it was, I had every intention of going. Whether they liked it or not. Leo looked at us. "Yes that means you too. No way I'm leaving you here with all the lair defenses down."

"That and they wouldn't stay behind anyway." Raph grumbled.

Mikey chuckled. "Well, at least they have a chance to see how much their skills have improved in the last few days."

"Not that much." I told him.

"Well, only one way to find out." He replied handing my asp back to me.

"I said gear up." Leo cut in. This time we broke out of our lab huddle and went to get ourselves ready. Would you actually believe I was actually giddy to be invited along for once? Even if it was because Leo really didn't have a choice in the matter. He was right, with the lair defenses down it was to risky for us to stay here since every bad baffoon was out there trying to sniff out their home. Still, being invited along on a major excursion was actually kind of thrilling. I just hoped it wouldn't turn out to be a major mistake.


	38. Chapter 38

By the time we got our stuff together, and of course Cris and I had to change, the winter sun was setting over the city. It was a weird feeling driving through the blacked out streets, there wasn't even any kind of backup systems coming on. "Well at least the slight delay," Leo glared Cris and I. "gave us the cover of night to work in." He had been in foul humor ever since we left the lair.

"Well I sure wasn't going to come out here in sweats." I snapped at him.

"I always thought it was supposed to be Leo and Raph butting heads." Donnie said mildly. "Has something changed in the rulebook?"

"Don't push it, Donnie." Leo growled at him.

"Yeah bro, that's my job." Mikey said with his boyish grin.

"Mikey, one of these days I'm going to glue your damn mouth shut." Leo told his brother.

"No, you will _try_ to glue my mouth shut." He ducked before Leo could get a smack in, but Raph was closer and did it for is older brother. "Oww."

"Seriously, Mikey. Just shut up." Raph told him.

"Why is everyone one so crabby tonight?" Cris asked.

Leo just turned his eyes towards her but didn't say anything. Suddenly I think I knew what was going on. "This is our first time actually going out on a major mission with them. This isn't us helping them out, this is them taking us into danger, on purpose." Leo's eyes flashed over to mine and I could see him clench his jaw. I knew then that I was right. All the other times that I had gone out with them was minor stuff, go in, turn them loose and get out. We always had at least a basic idea of what was going on. This time however we had no idea what we were in for and it was eating at them. Leo just turned back around towards the front of the van. Raph had also grown quiet, looking out a window. I sighed in the now quiet van then looked out a window myself.

Donnie halted the van in a parking garage a couple of blocks away from the Sachs building and we made our way on foot the rest of the way. At first glance the building seemed to be as blacked out as the rest of the city. Donnie figured out really quick that was not the case. "There is a huge power buildup in an underground level."

"So we go down it seems." Leo said. "Find us a way in."

"This way." Donnie began walking around the building until he came to a vent shaft, a small vent shaft.

"No way I can fit through that." Raph said.

"I can." I spoke up.

"I'll go with her. Just as soon as you tell us where we are going." Cris added.

"Take the first floor vent you come across out and drop down. It should leave you in a hallway. Follow it to the left until you come to that door." He pointed to a side door about fifty feet away. "Open the door from the inside. The electronic locking devices should be disabled due to the power outage. Unfortunately that means I can't hack it."

"What if the power outage has them forced into the locked position?" I asked him.

"It's not allowed to do that. There has to be a way for folks inside to get out during an emergency. Yes we know Sachs is corrupt but they still have to keep face to the public. That means they have to follow the safety codes."

"You better be right." Cris mumbled as Donnie opened the cover. He then turned around to boost us in.

Before I could walk over to him Leo grabbed me and pulled me close. "Be careful. We can't help you if something goes wrong." He said into my ear.

"I will." I pulled away from him just in time to see Cris pulling out of Raph's arms. Apparently she got the same message from him. "Alright Donnie boost me up." And up I went.

I moved forward and Cris came in right behind me, then the cover snapped back on. We were now on our own, for a few minutes anyway. We kept going, slowly as to avoid making any vent popping noises. Then came to the cover we needed. Cris pulled out a kunai and slipped it in the cover slits and popped it loose, then she pulled it up. I popped my head down as she placed it aside. I couldn't see a good damn thing down there. There was absolutely no windows and all the lights were out. Great. "When we get down go to the left wall, then hold on to me." I whispered to her. I then lowered myself slowly out. At least I didn't fall on my ass this time. I quickly moved over to the left wall. Cris took Donnie's lead from outside and hung there for a sec as she slid the cover back into place then she joined me.

We hugged the wall as we made our way down the corridor, figuring if someone was in there we wouldn't run into them. I could tell we were close to the door, it wasn't very sound proof. "You shouldn't have let them go in alone!" Raph.

"What else were we supposed to do?" Leo. "This was the fastest way. I didn't want them to go either."

"Fast isn't always best!" Raph.

"Dudes just chill!" Mikey with double slap. "C'mon! Seriously guys. Quit worrying so much about them. It's hard for any of us to do what we need to with you hovering over them like that. I have faith in them."

"For once I agree with Mikey. Give them a chance before you freak out." Donnie.

I sighed softly. I guess that meant that there wasn't a guard, if there was he would be screaming for back up right about now. I got to the door and felt my way around for the handle and clasped my hands around it as the arguing continued outside. "If you guys don't shut the hell up your going to let the whole place know we are here." I snapped as the door opened. Cris was giggling behind me. "For guys who are supposed to be trained ninjas you sure do make a lot of fucking noise!" Stunned silence met me on the other side, then Mikey laughed softly.

Then they filed into the hallway and let the door close behind them. "This way." Donnie said softly. I felt Leo grab my hand to guide me as we walked along behind him. It's always creepy on how well they managed even the deepest darkness with ease but comforting as well, I could trust them not to run me into a wall. Donnie stopped after a few minutes. "Here. It's an elevator shaft, we need it to go down."

"You do realize if the elevator fires up we won't be able to see shit in there, right?" Raph asked him.

"Yes I do. That's why I had planned on turning a light on once we were in. I doubt anyone would see that, unless they have a coffee shop set up in there."

"Just get it open." Leo sighed.

I heard the sound of metal doors being pulled open against their will as Raph groaned to pull the apart. "Oh my..." Cris murmured softly. I poked her. "Focus on what we are doing."

Donnie turned on his light and lept inside holding onto a cable. Raph was still straining to hold the doors open as they tried to snap back shut. "Hurry. These doors are heavier than they look."

Mikey and Leo went in next, Cris hesitated. "Not now Cris, please." I told her. "Go they will catch you if you fall, you know they will." She took a deep breath and made the leap, she hit the cable and wrapped herself around it for dear life. I launched myself in right behind clinging to it myself. I'll admit I was scared shitless, that would be one long drop... Raph sprung forward, letting the doors snap shut behind him. After he hit the cable Donnie tossed him a rope since he was the closet one to us and Raph quickly tied us to him then tossed the other end to Mikey who tied himself to us also. That made me feel a lot better, they wouldn't carry us down but they wouldn't let us fall either. This way if something came up they had their hands free and us secured.

We made our way down, probably not as fast as they were used to but they didn't complain. My arms were though and my legs, I was really so not ready for this. "Are you able to make it?" Mikey asked me, Leo looked up from where he was below me.

"For right now, yes." I said through clenched teeth as I kept making my way down.

"It's not much farther." Donnie said. He pointed to a maintenance shaft. "That's where we are headed."

Once we were even with the shaft Donnie and Leo hopped over. I looked over at them, there was no way on gods green earth I would be able to do that. Cris' groan informed me she felt the same way. Raph began to undo the rope around him then tossed the end to Leo who held on tight with Donnie and pulled the slack in. "Let go." Raph told me as he grabbed the rope right under me.

"Say what?"

"Let go of the fucking cable. I got you here and Leo and Donnie have you over there, not to mention your still tied off to bone head. You won't fall. Now let go."

"If I splat I'm going to haunt you." I muttered.

"I'll deal with it. Let go or I'll make you let go."

I gave up and turned loose. I dipped a little but the guys held the rope tight and slowly worked me over to the shaft. Donnie pulled me in and undid the rope and then held it again as we waited for Cris. I think her courage was pretty much used up by this point. I thought she did pretty good, considering. Raph didn't even talk to her, he just pried her loose from the cable. Again I had to give her some credit as she didn't scream as she was dangling over the empty elevator shaft. I pulled her in and she collapsed to the floor then scrambled quickly away from the edge. Raph and Mikey then joined us and Donnie coiled the rope back up and tucked it away.

Again we followed him as he led the way, leading us further down. Thank good we didn't have to go down any more elevator shafts, there were ladders in the maintenance tunnel. Finally Donnie stopped at a door. "In here." He said softly.

"Can you open it?" Leo asked him.

"Are we green?" He hooked something up to the panel. A panel, I couldn't help but notice, that had electricity hooked up to it. A moment later he softly opened the door, just a crack. The room beyond was dim, as if the lights weren't fully working dim. Donnie looked at Leo and he nodded to his younger brother and Donnie slipped in. Leo took my hand and we slipped in behind him. He didn't have to tell me to be quiet, the sudden lack of even the whispered conversation told me to keep my trap shut. We quickly moved along what appeared to be a walk way set high above the actual floor of the room. The very large room, with a very large...portal? Oh, this wasn't good...

There were a cluster of forms gathered close to the the portal, though we were still to far away to make anything out in the dim light. We began to move softly in the shadows towards the portal. We got about half way when Leo sucked in his breath in a hiss and stopped. I looked up at him and he had a hate filled glare aimed at the dim figures down below. There was only one time I saw his face filled with such hate. Oh, no. I looked down to where his stare was fixed, to see an identical form staring back up at us. Well this just got a whole lot more complicated.

"Still trying to right the wrongs of your world I see." Dark Leo called up to us. "It's to bad you can't sneak up on yourself though isn't it?" As he spoke his dark brothers fanned out around him. There were still two other forms down there, one I knew right away was Stockman. The other made my eyes widen as I took in the blue top, black pants, white fur and long ears. He didn't look to happy as he was tied up and lying on the floor. "Usagi! Oh my lord guys they have Usagi!"

"Who?" Raph asked.

"A very good friend of yours!" I tried to explain.

"I don't recall any giant rabbits being on my friends list." Mikey said.

I sighed in frustration as Cris slapped Mikey on the shoulder. "She's right stupid. He's a good guy."

Leo looked down below. "Can you two handle Stockman?"

"I can if i have to." I said.

"Then let's go help this friend we haven't met yet." Leo said. He grabbed me and launched himself over the rail. As we were coming down I saw the dark turtles moving in. Leo hit the floor in a roll, letting me go as he passed over me, then sprang to his feet weapons in hand just as a matching set came down towards him.

"Stop them You fools! They will ruin everything!" I heard Stockman screaming as I got up and ran towards him, Cris now right by my side. We couldn't take on the dark turtles but we sure as hell could deal with one pompous ass scientist. Well we could right up until he pulled a gun out. "Shit!" Rang out in stereo as we ducked for cover as he fired. Yeah a straight on frontal attack wasn't going to work, I didn't have a bullet proof shell. Now there was an idea, maybe Donnie could...I brought my mind back to reality as he fired again. We scrambled to get out of the way as his shots went wide. Thank god he couldn't shoot for shit.

"Cris, is he close enough for you to hit him?" I dodged behind a crate and she followed me. We were about thirty feet away from him at this point

"Hit him yes. I'm not sure if I can take him out."

"Just throw something at him." She pulled out her stash of kunais and launched the first one as I dodged around the crate. Stockman's shot went wide as the first one hit him in the shoulder. He was about to aim again and I was now dangerously close to him. This time she got him in the arm and he dropped the gun, it fired off a stray shot as it hit the floor and the bullet hit the control panel. I had my asp out and ready by this point and landed a blow into his stomach he doubled over and I placed another one onto the back of his neck. He crumpled to the floor.

I turned my attention to the portal that was acting weird, really weird. It was constantly changing colors and it looked like it was about to collapse into itself. I was pretty sure that wasn't a good thing. I was about to help Usagi when I heard Cris. "Vicky! Look out!" She screamed.

I looked up to see Dark Leo running towards me, murder in his eyes. Leo was chasing him but it was clear he wouldn't get to me in time. Dark Leo sprung into a leap, fully intending to knock me over but I dropped under him. As he flew over me he reached out and grabbed the back of my shirt and his momentum carried me with him, right through the portal. I could hear Leo's shout of horror as it snapped shut behind us.


	39. Chapter 39

"_NO!_" Fury, fear and horror all filled that one simple cry. She was gone, trapped somewhere, with _him _and there was nothing I could do! In a blind rage I threw my katana at the wall where the portal had been just seconds before, it's blade stuck in the metal wall a few inches. I probably had just ruined the blade but I really didn't care at that point.

Stockman had chosen to wrong time to groan as he tried to get up. I reached down and grabbed him, lifting his face to within inches of mine. "You. Get. That. Goddamn. Portal. Open. _Now!_" I snarled as I ripped the kunai out of his shoulder that Cris and stuck in him earlier and placed it onto his neck. "Or I swear to god I will rip your fucking throat out." I was loosing control, it was all I could do not to plunge the blade into his throat. As it was my hand was trembling in rage as I held it against his throat.

He looked over at the smoking control panel and winced as a small fire emerged from it. Fear now filled his eyes as he looked back at me. "I...I can't." He swallowed hard. "The control-"

"_WRONG FUCKING ANSWER!_" I felt the rage completely take over then turned and threw him, hard. He slammed into the now slightly burning control panel. I drew my other blade out and lashed it out at him, to scare him or to kill him I really couldn't tell you at this point. A bo staff came swinging in around me, blocking my swing, and probably saving the life of that piece of trash on the floor in front of me. I felt another set of arms grab me from behind and pull me back and yet a third set pulled my blade out of my hand. I was white hot with rage as I fought back against those figures, at that moment having no idea who they were, not caring who they were. Vicky was gone, gone _WITH HIM! AND I COULDN'T GET HER BACK! _I lashed out at the figure holding me back, fully intent of pummeling them within an inch of their life. I couldn't see past the white hot wall of fire in my eyes but I lashed out anyway.

I felt other hands restrain me also and I fought against those as well. I had to get to her, I had to...

"Leo! This isn't going to help!" Said a voice I recognized but I was to blinded with rage to place who it belonged to. "LEONARDO!" It snapped again as I kept struggling.

"Leo, come on, bro. Snap out of it."

"Donnie, can you do something?" The first voice asked. "He's going to hurt himself, or kill somebody."

"My vote is on kill somebody."

"Mikey. Shut up."

"Hold him."

"We're trying! He isn't exactly in the mood to be held right now, Donnie."

I still fought, I had to break free, I had to find her, I had to get to her. I felt something cold hit my arm and inject something. I swung a leg out to kick the intruder away but my leg met nothing but air. "That should calm him down, I hope."

I struggled, fought, tried to pull away. I did anything I could to get free, I had to get free...I had to... I felt my body starting to loose strength, my mind go numb. Vicky... My legs gave out and those unseen hands guided me as I collapsed to the floor. Slowly, very slowly, I regained control of myself and began to focus again. "It's working." One of the voices said. Donnie? "I think it's ok to let him go now."

"Dude if he swings at me I'm coming after you next."

I closed my eyes and sighed, the last of the rage being numbed away. "I'm not going to swing at you, Mikey." The hands finally released me. My brothers' hands, I had been attacking my brothers... I had lost myself so much that I had lashed out at my own family. I could have hurt them, or worse. Guilt began to make it's way into me. I was supposed to be the calm, level headed one. The one who was supposed to lead them, protect them, guide them. Not hurt them.

"I'm sorry." I said as I looked up at them. Cris was standing behind them looking scared as she watched, next to her was a tall lean figure, the figure Vicky had tried so hard to save. He eyed me intently as he also watched as I struggled back up onto my feet. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to... didn't want..." I closed my eyes taking a deep breath. "All I can say is I'm sorry and it doesn't seem like enough."

"Leo, stop. There is nothing to apologize for." Donnie said. "None of us are perfect. Not even me."

I looked at him. "I can't afford not to be."

"Oh, get off of your high horse." Raph snapped at me. "I'm not perfect, your not perfect, Donnie isn't and Mikey is nowhere near it. We all have our breaking point. You just ran head first into yours. I would be more worried if you didn't flip out, honestly." He paused and looked at me. "We all feel the same way right now, big brother. Your not alone in this."

"Right, bro. So you went and hopped on the nutty wagon for a little, doesn't mean you went for the whole ride. It's kind of refreshing to see someone else besides Raph loose his marbles for once."

"Thanks guys." I told them. I still felt guilty about it but they wouldn't hold it against me. That didn't mean I didn't hold it against myself, the fact still stood that I had lost control, and even right now I had a very tender grip on it. For once my heart was overruling my head. I wanted, needed, her back. God, Vicky... I had to make a conscious effort now to control myself and it was hard. Another outburst like that wouldn't help any of us, especially Vicky. I couldn't afford to do that again, but I wasn't sure I wouldn't

I then turned my attention to the rabbit. "I owe you my thanks." He said walking towards me. "You had no reason to come to my aid and yet you did."

I looked over to where the portal had been. "She vouched for you. That was all the reason I needed." I turned to the one brother that could possibly fix this mess. "Donnie, please, you have to find her..." My voice caught in my throat.

"Easy, Leo." Raph said from next to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. Then he looked at the newcomer. "So, what's your story?" He asked as Donnie walked over to the control panel, pausing only long enough to kick Stockman out of the way.

"A very bizarre one, my friend."

"Raphael, is the name. And we are starting to get used to bizarre."

"You can say that again." Mikey said.

"I am called Miyamoto Usagi. I was sent by my daimyo to investigate this strange magical doorway that appeared on his lands. Your enemies were already there when I arrived. I must admit, to my shame, that they managed to over power me." He frowned. "They do not fight with honor."

"That they do not." I told him. The mention of our evil twins bringing them back to the fore front of my mind. "Where are they?"

"Over there." Mikey pointed to an empty floor. "Awww shit...well they were over there."

I scanned the large room. "Keep an eye out. They still might be here, waiting."

Donnie began mumbling from the console, then turned to us. "There is nothing I can do with it, it's memory is fried. The memory that contains the location of where those doors lead to. I can't bring her back."

I tried to keep my composure. "What else can you do?"

He looked down at Stockman. "I'm sure he has the files on some kind of back up, don't you Stockman?"

"And why should I help you with that?" He sneered.

I felt anger begin to fill me again no matter how hard I tried to keep it locked away, my hands began again to tremble in rage. Raph once again laid a calming hand on my shoulder and I fought hard to control myself. He then walked over to Stockman and picked him up by the front of his lab coat and pulled his face close. "Because if you don't I'm going to give you back to Leo. And this time I won't save your worthless hide when he chops your stupid head off." He growled.

Stockman blinked then reached into his pocket. "Here." He squeaked, handing Donnie something.

"Your willingness to help is appreciated." Donnie said with a poker face, turning back to the console. He worked for awhile quietly then sighed as he reviewed the data, rubbing his face. "Good lord, what on earth were you guys trying to do? Open a door to all the worlds you could find?" He kept scanning the data. "Damn it..." He spat in frustration finally as he kept looking.

"What Donnie?" I asked him. I had to know.

"Leo it's going to take me hours, days maybe, to sort through all of this. And I still might not be able to find her." He looked at me and there was grief on his face. "I don't know if I can bring her back."

Those words hit me, hard. The meaning behind them filling me once again with emotions I couldn't control. This time my brothers jumped me before I could lash out at anyone. I wasn't strong enough for this, I couldn't deal with this...As I laid there, struggling, under my brothers I felt Donnie jab something in my arm again. This time whatever he had used hit me harder. I didn't just go numb, I was lured to sleep. All I could focus on as I was pulled away from the waking world was Vicky and the fact that she was trapped with an insane version of me. Trapped with a monster that stood for everything I fought against. A beast that would not think twice about hurting her and I could do nothing for her. "Vicky...no...God, please no..." I cried out before sleep took it's hold.

.

.

We hit the ground and the impact made him release his grip on my shirt. I quickly rolled out of his grasp, got up and ran. Shit, shit, shit, shit, ran through my mind in time with my running paces. I was here, alone, with Leo's dark persona and I had no idea where here was. I didn't even stop to try and figure it out though. All I could say was that I was in some woods, somewhere. I ran, dodging trees, jumping logs and rocks. I had to get away, that's all that was on my mind right now, I had to get away. Flight was my only option, there was no way I could fight him. And I sure as hell wasn't going to try and stay anywhere near him.

I felt him grab me from behind and then turned me and slammed my back into a nearby tree, then pinned me there with one of his hands around my throat. "You are a very meddlesome person." He growled at me. "You didn't actually think you could run from me did you?"

"I sure as hell wasn't going to stay with you!" I snapped at him, my fear making my mouth very brave. "Let me go!" I tried to kick him in the shin, key word there was _tried. _

He looked calmly down at me. "You are a feisty one, aren't you?" I really didn't like the look in his eyes. "I think I know why he likes you so much."

"You don't know anything!" I hissed trying again to break free.

He laughed softly. It sounded so much like Leo... God Leo... "Keep it up. I'm enjoying this."

"That's because your a pervert."

"Never denied it." He brought his head close to mine. "And I'm about to show you just how much of one I am." He said softly. I turned my face away from him. I could feel his free hand going down to my waist, undoing my pants. Oh, no...god no... Again I fought back, I kicked, hit anything I could do I did and it didn't phase him except to make him smile a very twisted smile. "Oh yes, I am really going to enjoy this..." He tightened his hold on my throat and I couldn't breath. I hung there, held against the tree by his arm and he was about to rape me. I couldn't help but tremble at the thought, I was helpless and at his mercy. This time I knew there would be no last minute rescue, I was going to be raped by someone who looked like the one I love. I couldn't even pull Leo's face to my mind for strength because this monster tainted it. Trembling in fear, I awaited my fate against that tree, there was nothing else I could do...


	40. Chapter 40

I woke up in the same room, that same damn room where I lost her. I sat up slowly, taking my time to get that grip on my emotions I so desperately needed. I had to keep myself under control, if I didn't I would loose more than her, I would loose myself.

"Fighting oneself is always the hardest enemy to defeat." Came a voice from beside me. I turned to look and met the gaze of Usagi, he was sitting cross legged on the floor next to me.

"Yes, it is." I replied. Something a bout his calm demeanor reached out to me and I was able to get a firmer grip on myself. "I'm afraid I'm not making a very good first impression."

"On the contrary, Leonardo. I had at first feared you to be the same as the others. I have since come to the conclusion that you are not. You have honor, you have passion and you love deeply." He raised an eyebrow. "There is no shame in feeling. The shame is when you don't, then you become a monster."

I looked away from him, unable to meet his eyes. "I almost did anyway."

"No, you became blinded and misguided. Now is the time for you to see and guide, my friend. You now know the path to take. Do not dwell on what could have happened. Learn from it and move on, you now fully understand unrestrained emotion, now learn how to restrain it."

"I'm trying, I'm trying to block them out. I'm trying to keep control."

"And that is where you failed. To block them out completely is denying they exist and they will fight harder to emerge, and when they do it becomes a raging flood. Do not block them, face them and refocus their energy. There are different ways to use control, blocking is only one."

I looked back at him thoughtfully. Maybe he was right, maybe I was going about this the wrong way. My whole life I had tried to block them out if they were of no use to me. Then Vicky entered my life and my entire emotional balance shifted and feelings I never really had to face started coming more into the forefront. That the old way wasn't working anymore was now painfully obvious. "I will take your advice, my friend. My way is obviously ineffective now."

He smiled a little. "Love has the power to change many things, and yours for her is strong."

"That it is." I said softly. I sighed and stood up, it was time to get my act together, if I could. I knew this was going to be hard and I honestly didn't know if I could do this. Doubt still clouded my mind, could I handle this or would I fall all to pieces again? I couldn't answer that. I didn't know if I would snap on my brothers again at a critical moment. But I did know Vicky needed me and I would try and use that thought to keep me grounded. If I lost it again, she would be the one to suffer. It was a hard reality to face but I had to face it. Even now I still fought the whirl wind of emotions inside me and probably would until I had her in my arms again. I needed to find a way to control it and maybe refocusing it to the task at hand would help.

"Come on. Lets see if I can put myself to use besides being my brother's dog pile practice dummy." I held out a hand, he took it and also rose to his feet. Side by side we walked over to the others who were still standing by the console. "What have you found out?" I asked them.

They all turned to me and I noted their wary looks at my direction, I have to admit that stung a little. "It's ok guys. I won't..." I sighed "Let me rephrase that, I can't promise I won't loose it but I'll do my damndest to aim it in the direction it needs to go." I looked at them, hoping they would give me another chance and not another tranq needle. I just waited patiently, more calm now than I had been since Vicky had been lost...I took a deep breath and pushed that thought away, not blocking it, just moving it.

"Well situation is still the same. I can not tell you where she went." Donnie said as he watched me closely. The he turned his head to Usagi. "But I think I found your way home. Problem is butterfingers over there on the floor fried the portal. I can't fire it up."

"It's not my fault your friend threw a knife at me and made me drop the gun." Stockman mumbled.

"Well I wasn't going to let you shoot us full of holes either." Cris snapped at him.

"Anyway," Donnie cut in. "there is nothing more we can do here."

"Actually there is." I told him. It was time to find out what exactly was going on. Maybe we could gain some information we needed. I turned my attention to the tied up scientist on the floor and once again picked him up, dangling him in the air. "You have about ten seconds to tell me what was going on here tonight."

"And if I refuse?"

I pulled my face close to his. "I just watched the woman I love be swept through your portal with a psycho version of me. What on earth makes you think I don't feel like tearing you apart right now..." I lowered my voice. "All I need is one. Good. Reason." I let some of the rage I still had creep into my voice.

His face paled. "I was working with Bishop on his portal project and the idea intreaged me so I built one of my own. Bishop found out about it and sent those whackjobs here to dismantle it but they were wanting to use it themselves. I don't know why, you'll have to ask them. Please don't hurt me..."

"You know, Stockman," Raph said "for someone who is so smart, your an idiot."

I dropped Stockman back to the floor. "That portal is useless you said?" I asked Donnie.

"It is for our pourpose."

"Destroy it. Blow it up, erase all evidence of it ever being here. Then we move. We have been here to long already."

"Are you sure?" He asked me. He knew for a fact I didn't like explosions in confined spaces, they were to unpredictable. I had something else in mind this time though. Donnie just looked at me like I grew another head.

"Positive. Blow it up." I gave him a wink. Come on buddy your supposed to be the smart one...

His eyes widened a bit behind his glasses then narrowed. He flicked them around the room real quick taking in all the nooks and cracks. "Alright, Leo. Give me a minute." And he turned to the console.

Raph walked over to me. "Are you nuts?" He whispered. "Your not really going to blow it up are you?"

"Of course not." I whispered back. "Well, at least not with us down here."

Raph looked confused. "Then wha-" I sensed movement behind me and I quickly brought a katana out and slapped the flying sai away that had been aimed for Donnie. "Oh, now I get it." Raph grinned. Then he exploded into action as the owner of the thrown sai made his appearance. Raph crashed into Dark Raph as he was charging for Donnie.

I looked at Usagi. "Time for some payback."

He had a slight smile on his face as he pulled out his weapons. "An opportunity eagerly awaited." He said as he joined Raph.

Dark Donnie had by now made his way to my brother Donnie. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that." He said as he swung his staff.

Donnie snorted with contempt. "Like you are going to stop me." He brought his own weapon around in a block.

I sprinted towards them, this was the one I had needed to draw out. I dove down to the ground as Mikey's counterpart came flying in and I rolled under him then got up and kept going. Fully aware of the fact that Mikey himself by now had my rear covered. Donnie saw me coming and launched a series of swift blows to keep my target distracted. I plowed into the smart double, knocking us both to the floor. Donnie soon joined me in holding him down. "Get off of me!" He growled in frustration and anger.

I ignored him and held onto the arm that had his tech strapped to it. "Cris! Get it off of him!" I told the woman standing nearby. She dove in and swiftly cut the straps loose and pulled it off.

"No!" The turtle trapped under us screamed in rage. I used the hand I had been holding his tech arm with and knocked him in the temple and he laid still.

It was now really time to go. "Were you able to take care of that portal?" I asked Donnie and he nodded, taking his counterpart's gear from Cris. "Time to go!" I called out to the others. Donnie swept Cris up in his arms as the others disengaged. We made our way to the stairs that led up to the walkway we used to come in.

Once we were up I called to Raph. "Help me with this!" He stopped and spun around and together we dislodged the stairs and knocked them over to prevent pursuit. Then we all made our way swiftly out of the room. I had no idea what Donnie set the timer on, but I didn't want us here to find out. I just hoped that the tech we just swiped had the information we were looking for on it. I didn't know how much time Vicky had left and we were running out of options.

.

.

God this couldn't really be happening, it seemed so unbelievable. Being pinned to a tree by my throat with this monster's hand in my pants. I had given up, there was nothing I could do to stop this. Tears were streaming down my face as he moved his hand further in.

"Mmmmmm. Nice and warm. And of course your fear make this even more delicious." He began to push a finger inside me, ignoring my gasp of pain at his roughness. "Tight too. I bet you give him a good ride."

I felt disgusted, sick to my stomach. To feel his finger inside me made come close to vomiting. He leaned his face in close to mine. "I hope you like a good hard pound, because that's what I'm about to give you." Then he licked my cheek.

I had to fight through the pain and fear to see the opening he had just given me. But once I had seen it, I took it. I turned my head and bit him in the cheek, hard. His blood flowed into my mouth as he pulled back in pain and rage, his arm letting me go. I didn't hesitate, I took off again trying to close my pants up as I ran.

I only made it a few steps however when I felt my feet slide out from under me and I rolled down a steep hillside, slamming into trees and rocks as I tumbled. Finally I stopped at the bottom and I listened. I didn't hear him but that didn't mean a damn thing. He was to good to let me hear him. I didn't know if he knew where I went of not. I laid there perfectly still besides my trembling.

I had to think of something, fast. I couldn't out run him or out fight him. The only thing I had left was to try and out smart him. That also seemed like a long shot but it was the only option I had. I quickly looked around and found nothing I could use but I did find a high tree I could climb. It seemed laughable to hide from him in a tree but at least I could see him coming. There really wasn't a way for him to sneak up on me, I hoped. Now I just had to get up there.

I swiftly moved across the small clearing and began to climb and didn't stop until I was about forty feet up then I hunkered down and waited. At that point there wasn't anything else I could do. I just hoped it was good enough, I doubted now that he would let me live so it had to be good enough if I didn't want to die.

How long I stayed up there watching, waiting, I didn't know. It seemed like hours and there was no sign of him. I wasn't stupid enough to think that he had given up. He was to tenacious for that, I had hurt him and I would have to pay. I fully expected him to wait for me to come out in the open on my own and pounce, which was the reason I stayed exactly where I was. It was a waiting game on who would move first and I was determined for it not to be me. I kept my butt firmly in that tree and it would stay there until someone threw me out of it. That was a real possibility if he found me. I just hoped that he wouldn't.


	41. Chapter 41

We tore out of the elevator shaft just as an explosion rocked the building under us. Well so much for that portal, made the lights come back on too. I shook my head, Stockman had the potential to be a really large threat, but sometimes he was just...a moron. I'm no tech nerd but I even know to make sure that if you build something you don't drain the city's power supply. Raph was right, he was an idiot. A very intelligent idiot.

Now with the lights back on we couldn't just walk the streets, we had to go the rooftop route. Usagi was looking around in stunned wonder over the rooftops at the skyline around him. "Your world is beautiful but very strange, Leonardo."

"You have no idea how strange it can get, Usagi." I told him as we moved out toward the parking garage. I slipped into the driver's seat so Donnie could do his thing. I had no idea where to go but I got us moving anyway. I just couldn't sit there and wait, I had to occupy my mind. Fighting the traffic gave me the distraction I needed.

The van was quiet as we all waited on Donnie, except for the sound of him rattling off to himself like he usually does when he was under pressure. Then he suddenly got quiet. "Well that helps a lot." He said to himself softly. I tried to hold back the surge of hope that filled me as he spoke those words. Calm, I had to stay calm.

"What does?" Cris asked him.

"Stockman had hundreds of worlds on his files. According to this though, they only had an interest in about fifty. They are looking for something specific and had narrowed it down. This log shows that he had downloaded the recent list to the control console right before we showed up. They, at the time, were the only active portal signatures."

"Which means?" Mikey asked.

"Vicky went through one of these fifty portals." Donnie told him.

"Then we go home, find her and bring her back through ours." Raph said.

"It's not that simple, Raph." Donnie sighed. "Ours is only able to handle one, maybe two different signatures. I never meant to go world hopping with it. We need a larger portal."

"Well, we just blew it up." Mikey said.

"It was useless to us anyway. It would have taken me days to fix it."

I suddenly knew where we had to go, and I didn't like it one bit. "Bishop. He has one."

"We don't know where it is." Raph pointed out.

"No but they do. How much are you willing to bet that Donnie can fish the information out. The other one is to much like him, I'm almost certain there is some kind of record stored in there."

"Well, let's find out." Donnie said and once more grew quiet, working on the stolen tech. Once again the van grew quiet. "Found it. Here I'll plug it in." A view screen came to life next to me with the map I needed. It wasn't to far away it seemed. I turned the van in the direction I needed to go, moving as fast as I could through the traffic.

We were led to a plant nursery of all places. It looked so normal and unassuming you would never believe that there was more to it, if you didn't know Bishop. He had a tendency to hide in plain sight. I looked with uneasiness at the surrounding houses not far away, we were at the edge of a residential district. "Guys, we have to try really hard not to blow shit up this time." I told them. "Our track record has been getting a little fiery lately and we can't afford that here."

I then turned my attention to our target compound. It looked so easy, but I knew Bishop better. "Donnie, what are the chances of you finding her on the first try?"

"Not very good." He replied also eyeing Bishop's hideout.

"I almost guarantee you something will happen in there and we won't have time to search them all. We need to somehow narrow the playing field."

"Donnie, you need to invent and interdimensional tracker." Mikey said.

Donnie's eyes widened. "Mikey your a genius!"

"He is?" We all asked him.

"I can do a scan of the portal signatures, flip through them like you would thumb through book. It should only take a few seconds. I can set up something to search for signals on the other side once that door is open in the scan. Once I get a ping I go back to that doorway and reopen it."

"What if she don't have her tracker on?" Cris asked.

"It don't matter, she has the ring. I set that up so it sends out a constant signal, I'll just plug my receiver into the console to catch it."

I looked at him, god I was hoping he could pull this off. Hope was what I was feeling now, and a sense of urgency.

Usagi came over and stood with us. "I will join you. Out of debt, and out of friendship."

"Let's do this." I told them and we made our way to the walled nursery.

We waited a moment for Donnie to take care of the security. There was always some kind of security with Bishop. I have seen everything from lasers to just a simple alarm system. We have come to rely heavily on Donnie when we deal with him. He was our edge in these situations. The problem was Bishop knew about it and always tried to trip him up, and did a time or two. It was always a cat and mouse game with those two, and I wasn't altogether sure who was the cat and who was the mouse.

"Go." Donnie said and we made our way over the wall, then dropped silently inside. "Over there." Donnie said softly pointing to a large, larger than it needed to be, greenhouse. I led the way and when we got to the door I tried the handle, it would be locked. I didn't even ask Donnie, I just broke it open. Again there was that light sense of urgency and I didn't want to waste anymore time. I slipped inside. There was your usual plants and flowers filling the room but the back wall caught my eye, there was another door back there and that's where I made my way next. This one too was locked, right up until I got my hands on it. Finally after swinging that door open the objective for tonight was in sight, we were in the portal room.

Donnie pushed his way passed me and ran up to it, going right for the console. We also made our way over, but stopped as a voice came from behind us. "Now, how did we know you were going to come here?"

"Oh come on!" Mikey said turning around to face his double. "Don't you guys have anything better to do than harass us? Last time you tried we almost blew you up." He got a good look at their scorched clothing. "I kinda like the half burnt look, though. Looks good on you."

"Imagine the improvement to your face when I pound it in." The other Mikey said. I sighed, I never could get used to two Mikeys. One was more than enough. They charged us and we met them head on. We had to keep them away from Donnie while he worked. Raph made sure he pushed Cris out of the way then focused his attention on his attacker. Twin sets of sais ringing out as they clashed, those two could unleash some power in their fights. Raph hit the floor as his double got a blow in, Dark Raph was about to take advantage of that when Usagi came in and deflected the strike. The rabbit was quick and he was smooth, and he was good. He matched the large evil turtle's blows, he didn't have the power but he had the speed and he used it. It was enough to give my brother the time to get back up and together they pushed him back.

I was dealing with Donnie's twin. I blocked the swing of the staff and spun my blade around deflecting it wide then followed it up with a kick that sent him flying back. He was coming at me again when I was hit again by that sense of urgency, this time hard. It was enough to take my focus and to late I saw the staff come back in. It was knocked away by a set of nunchucks as Mikey slipped in between us. "Leo, what's wrong?" He asked as he pushed Donnie's twin back.

I didn't answer him, I just turned and ran to Donnie. "Donnie, hurry! Please, something is wrong...I feel it."

"Almost there Leo." He whispered.

I turned and this time it was Mikey's double I pushed away. That feeling wouldn't leave, there was something wrong, something very very wrong. Again I felt rage and fear build inside me again as the portal snapped open behind me. "Leo! GO!" Donnie snapped as he turned and faced the other Mikey as he came back in.

I turned and plunged into the portal. God I hope I wasn't to late...Vicky...

.

.

I sat still as death in that tree. There he was, he came into the small clearing from a different angle than I did. His movements slow and steady, like a tiger hunting his prey. It had to have been hours since I seen him last, but I knew he was there. He had been waiting for me, just as I had been waiting for him. He moved fully into the clearing and looked up at me, right then I knew the game was over. He had grown tired of playing and he was going to end it.

"Shit." I muttered as he made his way up into the tree. I looked quickly around and found a fair sized branch and broke it off. It wasn't much but it was something I could hit him with at a distance. I wasn't about to let him get close to me again. He was close enough now to where I could see the bite mark I left on his cheek, and the murder in his eyes. If he caught me I was dead.

I sat there with my pitiful stick and waited until he got into range then took a swing at him. Yeah, that was a laughable attempt, he dodged it easily, but it did make him stop climbing for a moment. I swung out at him again and this time he swung out a blade and knocked the branch from my hand. He once again began to make his way up the last few feet.

I looked around desperately and found nothing else to use. I only had one other option. I took a deep breath and dove out of the tree, a flash of pain hit my leg as I fell past him. I fell for a bit then crashed hard into the branch I was aiming for, hard enough to knock the wind out of me. I held on to that branch, gasping for air, until another sound made it's way to my ears. The branch was breaking. Before I could collect myself enough to move it snapped and once again I fell, this time in an uncontrolled fall. After hitting what seemed like every branch on the way down, I slammed hard into the ground. I forced myself up, my leg hurt and so did my chest by now but I struggled up anyway.

After a quick look into the tree, confirming the fact that he was making his way back down, I turned and fled. I didn't make it far however when he tackled me to the ground, and new pain lashed out in my chest. I struggled to crawl out from under him and he flipped me over and landed a stunning slap to my face. I refused to let that stop me and again I tried to break free. God I had to get away, I had to. My hand felt something hard on the ground and I grabbed the large rock that was hidden under the leaves. With every ounce of my strength I brought it to his head. His grip loosened and I again tried to crawl away.

I didn't stun him enough and he was right back on top of me, again raining a blow on my face, then again. "Your almost more trouble than you are worth." He hissed at me.

"Get off of me!" I screamed at him hitting him in the face, right on the cheek I had bitten before. He pulled out a small blade and sliced my arm as I came back in for another swing.

"I was going to let you live long enough to get some pleasure out of you. Now I'm just going to kill you. Painfully." He brought the knife in again and I tried to hold the arm back, to keep it from digging into my chest. It was a loosing battle and I felt the knife slowly slip in. "This is going to hurt you sooo much, and I'm going to enjoy it." I was crying bitterly now, trying to hold the arm back and failing.

"_GET OFF OF HER!_" A voice thundered in the clearing and suddenly another form came flying in knocking him away. Leo had just came in through a portal that had opened up not far from my side. They landed on the ground next to me, rolling around in the dead leaves. There was not even any attempt at any kind of disciplined fighting, Leo just pounded on him with his fists and his counterpart was just trying to get him off. Finally Leo was thrown off and he landed into a roll and came to a stop on his feet. Something had changed in that quick roll. He was up, ready and balanced with blades drawn. He then moved over and placed himself between me and my tormentor as he also stood up. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't rip you to shreds right now." Leo said "You just crossed a line you will wish you didn't."

Dark Leo laughed. "Because I know breaking her, killing her, will make you easier to deal with, you soft hearted fool. It's never been about her. It's been about breaking you." He narrowed his eyes. "She is your weakness. The key to your defeat and I will use her if it helps me. Even now your concern for her blinds you."

"Try me, and see how blind I am." Leo told him in a deathly quiet voice. His blades came up in a flash as Dark Leo took him up on the challenge. They came together in a flurry of movement blades clashing and circling around each other. They were dangerously close to where I was and I tried to get up to move. A flash of pain in my chest dropped me back down and I clutched a hand to my side. Damn it, I must have hit the branch, one of them anyway, harder than I thought. Leo kept the fight away from me, solidly keeping himself between me and his opponent. He blocked any attempt that was made from Dark Leo of trying to get around him. "I won't let you near her." He snarled. Twisting his blade around the one he had just blocked and bringing it down and wide.

"Weakness." Came the reply as he brought his free blade in only to have Leo's other one meet it. Dark Leo pushed with enough force against the locked blades to send Leo falling backwards and he had to do a flip over me to keep from falling on me. As he did another form rushed by and blocked the blades that were coming down for me. I laid there wide eyed as Usagi stood over me, one leg on each side of me, holding back the wrath of the dark turtle.

"Strength." He replied to the earlier statement. "You shall not harm her." He pushed the attacking blades away, then followed them with his own. His blade circling in to catch both katanas and swinging them out wide to the side, then he spun himself inside those out flung blades and landed an elbow into the exposed side, knocking Dark Leo even further away. Dark Leo steadied himself and growled as he launched another flurry, that was picked off cleanly by the rabbit ronin.

Then Leo was there, his blades reaching out and and slapping the other katanas out of the way as he came in spinning, then followed that spin through with a kick that sent Dark Leo flying. He stood there calmly and watched his foe as he got back up, Usagi standing next to him in the same calm pose. "Please, Usagi. Get her back, I'll deal with him."

"As you wish, Leonardo." The tall, way taller than I was used to seeing him, rabbit made his way over to me. He knelt down and gently scooped me up. "I believe it is time for you to go home. You are missed by your friends." He told me as he walked.

"No argument from me there." I told him. "I was hoping to meet you under different circumstances though."

"Fate decided otherwise it seems."

We stepped though the portal and right into chaos. Not only were the other dark turtles there but soldiers as well. What in the world was going on? "Vicky!" Cris cried as she ran up to us. "Are you alright?"

"Do I look alright?" I asked her.

"No, you look like shit..." Usagi and Cris ducked as gunfire rang out. I couldn't help but groan in pain at the sudden movement. Usagi put me down and once again sprang into action as he was rushed by some soldiers. His blade lashing out and disarming a few soldiers of their guns. Dude was quick, well he was a rabbit...

"Where's Leo?" Raph snapped. Trying to dodge sais and bullets at the same time. "We need to get out of here."

"Still over there."

"I'll get him." Mikey popped his head in to call for his brother, then quickly ducked. Dark Leo came flying through the portal and slammed into the main cluster of soldiers in the room, effectively cutting down on the number of bullets being fired. The guys sprang all over them making sure they wouldn't get back up. Leo walked back through the portal.

"What happened?" He asked as he took the situation in.

"Bishop's troops figured out we were here." Donnie told him.

"Then it's time to go." He took a quick look around. "Raph." The large turtle turned at the call. "See if you guys can get a path cleared. We got what we came for and it's time to go." He shoved Cris towards them. "Stay in between them, they will cover you." Finally he turned and lifted me up. He wouldn't look at me, but he held me gently and I could feel him trembling. Usagi walked with us, providing us cover, as Leo made his way to where the others were trying to clear us a path out.

Suddenly Dark Leo stood in our path again, katanas in hand. "I'm not done with you." He hissed.

"I've had enough you." Came Leo's quiet reply. "Get out of my way." He said through clenched teeth.

I watched in wide eyed horror as the blades came down towards us, to be blocked from the side. Then Leo spun and again connected with a kick, it was so fast and so smooth it took me a moment to register what just happened. Leo looked to where his opponent fell and met him with a gaze filled with hate and a deadly promise if he tried again. The dark eyes widened as they took in that ice cold gaze and the message they sent, he did not get up as Leo moved on and we joined the others.

"Leo, bro, that was so awesome dude!" Mikey exclaimed. "I've never seen you move that fast before!" He threw a soldier against a wall and turned and kicked another away.

"Just worry about us getting out of here Mikey." Leo said. He fought with the only things he could, his legs, but they were more than enough to carry him especially with Usagi and Donnie flanking him. Raph finally got to the door and opened it, after a quick glance he grabbed Cris and almost threw her out the door. Mikey followed close behind then the rest of us followed. Just as Donnie jammed the door behind us there was another wave coming from the front.

"Damn it." Leo whispered, the trembling was increasing in his arms. I wasn't sure if it was because he was getting tired or if it was something else. "Rush them!" He snapped then moved to a table covered in plants. He brought out a leg and kicked a table up, so smoothly the plants didn't even topple over, then lashed out with the same leg and sent the table flying towards the troops that just barged in and it slammed into them.

Raph didn't have to be told twice, he landed into the middle of them and unleashed a wave of strikes and kicks. Usagi and Mikey rushed in from either side of the still huddled group and Donnie took the center. Cris threw flower pots and plants, hey whatever works I guess. It didn't take them long to clear the way. "GO!" Came from Leo and out we went.

We ran towards the wall, with more troops coming in. Damn where did they all come from? Was he having Scotty beam them down from the Enterprise? Usagi and Donnie hopped up onto the wall Raph picked Cris up and threw her up to Donnie who caught her and quickly dropped her down the other side. Leo was in a different predicament, he couldn't throw me. Instead he ran to Raph who got ready to boost us up, then we did go up. Donnie and Usagi steadied him as he landed then Raph followed us up. Then down the other side we went.

I looked over Leo's shoulder as we made our way to the van, standing on the wall we had just came over were four dark silhouettes. I couldn't help but shudder at the sight of them, now fully aware of what at least one of them did and would do again if given the chance. Leo felt it and turned to look himself and again met the gaze of his counterpart. His eyes seeming to send out a dare and a warning. He then turned his back on the figures and joined the others by the van. Three of them made a move to follow but the fourth held them back. He wasn't ready to take Leo up on that dare, yet.


	42. Chapter 42

We made it back to the lair and Leo carried me to the lab. He hadn't looked at me or say anything as Raph drove us back. Donnie had been wrapping up my leg and then held a bandage against the hole in my chest. "Best I can do until I get you home." He had told me quietly. Now Donnie followed us into the lab and went to go get his supplies as Leo laid me on the bed. Finally he took a good look at me and I could see his jaw tighten as he clenched his teeth. He took in my battered face, torn leg, numerous cuts, scrapes, bruises, and the blood lined hole in my shirt where the knife had passed through the fabric as it was being driven into my chest. There was one other small detail that got his attention, it was so small but his sharp eyes caught it. The small tear in my pants where Dark Leo had torn it when he had forced them open. His jaw clenched again and his hands balled up into fists and they began to tremble. This time I was the one who couldn't meet his gaze and turned my head away.

Donnie, his sharp eyes watching, had caught it all. "Leo, wait outside." Leo looked at him, it seemed like he was about to argue over it but Donnie didn't give him the chance. "_Now_." Leo turned his eyes back to me for a moment, then turned and left the room.

Donnie worked in silence, numbing my leg then stitching it up. "Looks like he got you with his katana blade." He finally said after awhile. " What else happened?"

I took a deep breath, and pain shot through my chest again. I knew what he was fishing for but I just couldn't bring myself to tell him. I couldn't tell him that my most private area had been violated. The memory of that finger inside me made me nauseous. It had hurt and it filled me with shame that he even got that far, that I let him get that far. I decided to sidestep the question. "I jumped out of a tree."

"You what?"

"You heard me, I jumped out of a tree. I climbed it to get away from him, he followed and I jumped out. He took a swipe at me as I jumped."

"That explains the cut on your leg. How high up were you?"

"About forty feet." He looked stunned. "I didn't fall straight down, Donnie. I had all these helpful branches trying to block my fall." I tried to bring humor into the conversation. It had always helped me before to brush unpleasant things off with a joke or a pun. I knew myself well enough to know this time I couldn't just hide behind a joke, this would still haunt me but I would try anyway.

"No wonder you look like you went toe to toe with a pissed cat." He moved his way up to my chest and ran a scan over me. "You've got some cracked ribs, my dear."

"Might explain why my chest hurts."

"It might be the reason, yes." He then turned his attention to the hole in my chest. "I'm going to have to move your shirt to deal with that." He said softly. I just nodded and he pulled it up just far enough to get to the wound. "Knife point." I saw his eyes flick to my face for a second. "Not deep enough to be lethal but deep enough to where I'll have to close it up too." Again he got quiet as he patched me up. Once he finished he pulled my torn, bloody shirt back down. His amber eyes met my brown ones as he looked over at me. "What else happened?" He asked again softly.

I was going to tell him nothing else did, but my tears gave me away. Embarrassed and ashamed I turned my head away from him. Donnie just waited quietly, not pushing it as he tended my more minor wounds. His calm presence reassuring me as he carefully cleaned away all the dirt and blood from my cuts and scrapes. Then I couldn't hide my face from him anymore as he gently turned it back towards him. Carefully he cleaned the cuts on my face, trying not to press to hard on the bruises left there. He was almost done when I pulled myself together enough to talk, trying to hide it wouldn't help and I honestly didn't know if there was any damage done. "Donnie..." I choked off, I was so ashamed. Trying to tell anyone that someone shoved something inside you that you didn't want was not an easy thing to do. It wasn't easy when I was a kid and it was just as hard now.

"Take your time." Came the calm reply. He continued to gently dab at my face.

I closed my eyes and forced myself to talk. "He...shoved a finger in..." I couldn't go on.

"Just a finger? He didn't get a chance to do anything else?" He asked in that same calm tone.

"No. But it hurt, it still hurts, he wasn't exactly gentle about it." Tears formed in my eyes.

Donnie looked down at me, sympathy on his face. Then he sighed. "Alright. If you want I can look you over but only when you are ready. I'm not going to lie to you, his fingers are large enough to have maybe done some damage, especially if you were stuggling. I won't force you though."

I took a deep shuddering breath. "Do it."

"I'll be quick, I promise." He quickly got a sheet to cover me with and helped me undress. I couldn't help but stare at the streak of blood in my underwear and I began to tremble a little. Donnie looked at me. "Are you sure you can handle this right now?" He asked softly. I just nodded. Quickly but carefully he inspected me while I just stared at the ceiling. I heard him sigh. "You've got some abrasions. Nothing serious though, I'll just clean them up and let them heal on their own." A few minutes later he was done and backed away, covering me with the sheet. "You can get dressed now."

"Not in those, I never want to wear those again. Throw them out..."

"That's fine, wrap yourself up in the sheet if you want." He chunked the clothes into the garbage and then washed his hands. When he finished he made his way over to me, placed a hand on my shoulder then took a deep breath. "If you need to talk, I'm here. I'll help you anyway I can." He paused then sighed again. "What do you want me to tell Leo?"

"I don't know what to tell him." Leo knew me well enough to know that something had happened. Just by a quick glimpse of my pants and my reaction he pieced together that something took place, I wouldn't be able to hide it from him. It just sickened me, the whole situation sickened me. How do I tell him this? Could I tell him this? If I didn't I knew he would form his own thoughts in his mind and that might lead to bigger problems. I owed it to him to ease his mind, somewhat. Good or bad, Leo deserved to know. "The truth." Donnie squeezed my shoulder and then walked out of the lab.

After he left I laid there alone with my thoughts and they weren't pleasant. I rolled carefully onto the side that didn't hurt and curled myself up into a ball, and cried. The events of the night finally catching up to me, I cried. It seemed as if my body was trying to wash away the shame, embarrassment, fear and pain I had been fighting all night. My chest hurt as sobs forced their way out, my tears were soaking the pillow. I don't know how long I was like that, I knew I needed to stop but I couldn't. My chest hurt enormously now but still I couldn't stop. Suddenly I wasn't alone anymore, someone sat on the bed next to me and pulled me up and I felt arms wrap around me to pull me close. Blind with tears I held onto the unseen form. Finally I calmed as there was nothing left in me, exhaustion was taking over. I leaned on the form I now could see was Leo. I didn't know what to say and he was just as quiet, both of us trying to come to terms with what happened this night.

"I'm sorry, none of this was..." He cut himself off and took a deep breath. "I didn't want..This wasn't...Damn it..." He tightened his grip carefully around me. "I won't take you out like that anymore. I was a fool to do it this time."

"No, Leo. Don't. Don't do this to yourself." I couldn't bear that, I didn't want him to feel guilt for what happened. If he did then that monster would win after all, this was exactly what his goal had been. He wanted to tear Leo apart, to break him. I'd be damned if I let him do it. "Yes I got hurt but I will heal, inside and out." I forced a smile as I looked up at him. "Your just going to have to show me your weak spots. If he wants to use me to get to you, then I'll use you to get to him. That way next time I'll be ready for him. I'll shove an asp up his hole and see how he likes it."

He managed a small laugh. "Now that is a mental image." I laid my head back down on his shoulder and we just sat quietly, each of us lost in our own thoughts. Finally he let out a sigh. "You are so much stronger than me in so many ways." He said softly. "I'll go get something clean for you to wear, then you need to rest." He got up and walked out of the lab.

After a restless sleep I woke up stiff and sore all over the next day. I really didn't want to see what I looked like in the mirror, boy my mom would have a field day with this one when she found out. I would just have to deal with that when it happens I guess.

Donnie was at his desk talking to Leo. "I don't know. But it's bothering me." Donnie was saying. "I could tell they were looking for something, even if they are lunatics, they don't do things without reason."

"There was no hint in his wrist display?"

"That's just it. It was only hints, nothing there to give me a solid lead to work on though. All I can do is guess and I don't like to guess."

"I'd take your guesses over anyone else's facts. Run it by me."

"Something with a power source. Something that can't be found here, I'm assuming."

"Like what kind of power source?"

Donnie spread his arms out and shrugged. "That's what I can't figure out. It could be anything from a light bulb to a large power plant. I have no clue. Yet."

"What on earth would they need something like that for?"

Again Donnie shrugged. "Don't know that either. What ever is going on it's not a very well developed plan yet. It's still in the beginning phases, that's probably why there isn't much info stored."

Leo sighed. "Great...We know they are up to something but no clue what."

"That pretty much sums it up, yes."

Leo looked at him. "Why don't you talk to Usagi before you send him home. Maybe he heard something." He paused a moment. "See if you can keep tabs on Bishop too. I'm not entirely certain he isn't involved."

"One of your hunches again?"

"Something like that."

Donnie sighed. "I hate it when you get those. It means life is going to busy for awhile and usually ends up with us beating the snot out of someone."

Leo smiled at him. "It's good for you. It'll keep you on your toes."

"Who said I want to be on my toes? I'm a flat footed kind of turtle myself." Leo just laughed. I smiled as I watched that. He would be alright, if he could laugh then he was putting yesterday's misadventure behind him. I'm not saying he forgot or didn't care, just that he could still do what he needed to do without drowning himself in guilt. He would still stand strong, and a strong Leo was a Leo you didn't want to mess with. Someone was about to find that out, the hard way.


	43. Chapter 43

I sighed in frustration, I should have had Usagi's portal up and running bu now. I had all the information I needed, everything was hooked up right and I made the necessary adjustments to account for another portal signature but the stupid thing wouldn't open. I'm not a very Raph like person but I came close to smashing the stupid thing with my bo staff. Vicky's portal worked just fine, but I couldn't open Usagi's.

I leaned back in my chair, it was getting late and I needed a break so I decided to get up and check on Vicky. She was asleep right now but it seemed to be a restless one since she was moving a lot. It was the same way last night after Leo helped her change clothes. She had lain down to sleep and spent most of the time moving. I frowned at that, the possibility of nightmares crossed my mind. I mentally kicked myself for not thinking of that earlier, of course this would bother her even if she wouldn't admit it.

Leo walked in through Vicky's portal just then and he didn't look to happy. He had went to talk to her family about her recent misadventure and her current condition. "Nothing like getting yelled at by someone else's mother..."

"Didn't go well?"

"Not really." He sighed.

"What did you tell them?"

"Just that she fell out of a tree. I told them she climbed up one to hide and left it at that."

"Well, it should be good enough to explain her battered appearance."

"Not to her. Lord that woman asks to many questions."

"She is a parent, she is just worried is all. Father was the same way."

"I suppose so, still...that wasn't the easiest thing to do."

"I know, Leo." I looked at him and wondered if I should bring up my concerns about Vicky's restless sleep. He was dealing with this ok, not great but ok. He didn't leave her side at all last night, or most of the day today. Their conversation earlier had been normal but there was a slight strain on Leo's end. He would look at her battered condition and his hands would ball up, or his jaw would clench slightly. Not to mention the occasional flash in his eyes.

He tried to hide this, especially from Vicky, but I knew him to well and knew all the signs. I expect someone might be getting a major ass whooping soon. I already knew that when I talked to him last night after treating her, but watching him today reinforced it. After his initial outburst he had calmed himself, but his eyes lit up in blue fire. He wasn't one for revenge but I had a feeling he wouldn't let this slide. This time I, honestly, agreed with him, I wonder if he would let me help...

Turns out I didn't have to say anything as her moving form caught his eye. Frowning slightly he watched her as she tossed and turned. "She was like that last night too. It's not normal for her, Donnie." He turned his gaze to me. "Something isn't right."

"I agree, there is still something going on in her. You know she won't tell us though."

"I don't think she has to." He said softly. "I have a fairly good idea of what's bothering her." There went the fist clenching again. "I just don't know what to do for her."

"What you always do, Leo. Be there for her. Especially now. She is in a peculiar dilemma, she was attacked by someone who looks exactly like you. Your going to have to remind her, a lot probably, that it wasn't you who did this, it was him." I sighed softly. "Leo, there is the chance that she may not want you to, well, you know..." I felt my cheeks getting hot even thinking about, well, you know... Damn I suck at this...

He smiled slightly at my discomfort, then turned his gaze back to her. "Uncomfortable warning has been noted." Then he grew quiet as he watched her. "I thought of that myself, Donnie." Again his voice was quiet. "That's why I'm to scared to lay down with her. If she is dreaming about what he did and wakes up and finds me there..." He trailed off.

I knew where he was going with this. "She might freak out, thinking you are him." He nodded. That was a possibility and we both knew it. Especially since we both knew she wasn't in the best state of mind when she wakes up. Vicky is definitely not a morning person.

But she wasn't the only one who had to deal with this and the one that could help her the most was hesitant to touch her. That was something else I saw right away, the way he carried her last night, refusing to look at her the whole time. Yes I noticed that and that he has barely touched her since. "How are you handling it all?" Asking directly was the only way, really, to deal with Leo. If you tried to skirt around the bush with him on anything he didn't want to talk about he wouldn't give you the answers you were looking for. He is just as hard to get inside of as Raph is. But where Raph would just explode and pound the crap out of you, Leo would try to shift the conversation away to something else.

He gave himself a moment, probably trying to decide if answering would help or not. "I'm scared to touch her, Donnie."

"You held her last night." I gently pointed out.

"Because she needed me. I wasn't going to just let her lay there and suffer."

"Exactly. This comes back to what I said earlier, Leo. Your going to have to work with her, show her that you won't hurt her. She is going to need you right now." I couldn't help a smile of my own. "I think your head is strong enough to take a few whacks."

"I don't know Donnie."

"And you won't know if you back away from her. You never back down from anything, why start now?"

"Because I don't want to hurt her." He snapped. He was starting to get irritated, ok maybe I would get the crap beat out of me after all.

"You think I would let you do anything to hurt her? We both know she won't tell us and all we are doing is speculating. At least if she smacks you we know that there is a problem and we can fix it." I looked at her restless form. "She needs you, brother. She can't heal this on her own, no matter how hard she wants to."

He stood there, his own eyes taking in the struggling form on the lab bed. He seemed to come to some kind of conclusion. "Maybe your right." He said in a quiet, thoughtful voice. Without another work he walked over to the bed, removing his harness as he went. He leaned it against the wall then laid down next to her, pulling her close. Almost immediately she settled down in his arms. Well that was good, she didn't wake up and slap him.

Sighing I quietly turned back to what I was doing earlier. This was another problem I had to fix, trying to figure out why this portal wouldn't open. There was no expainable reason for this not to work. That left me with trying to sort through all the unexpainable ones. After the comet soaring though the universe and blocking reflections from the moon that were bouncing off of Jupiter theory I gave up and went to bed. Even the genius needs a break everyone in awhile. I'll deal with it in the morning, I was just glad Usagi was a very patient rabbit.

.

.

Life sure was getting weird lately. Portals, other turtles, big giant dude than beat the crap out of Leo and the wierdest thing of all...Raph had a girlfriend. That I never would have believed in a million years. Well I thought they there boyfriend/girlfriend. Haven't seen any more kissy face action since that night Leo almost...well since Leo got banged up. Doesn't mean I didn't try to catch them at it. Leo and Vicky were easy because they didn't try to hide it. Lots of kissy face and huggles there. Raph was more fun to try catch tho. He took Cris to the dojo earlier and it was awfully quiiieeeet in there. I barged in and promptly got hit with a hanbo in the face.

"Shit Mikey! I'm so sorry!" Cris exclaimed. "I was trying to hit Raph."

"I don't see why." Raph was grinning. "He should know better than to barge into the dojo like that."

Yeah, he was right. But hey at least Cris finally got a solid hit in on one of us, even if it was the wrong turtle. "Nah, It's cool." Damn, she had a good whack on her.

"Was there something you wanted?" Raph asked me with a smirk.

"Not anymore." I turned around and left. Well that didn't work as expected. Oh well, I'll catch them at it another time. I decided to see what the kiddos were up too. Donnie thought it best for Vicky to hang out here for awhile instead of at her place so she had been staying here. I guess there was something wrong with her that I couldn't see. I'm not sure I wanted to know what. Leo and Donnie seemed to have it under control so I tried not to let it bother me, at least that meant the kiddos hung out here more than they usually did.

Right now they were pestering Usagi with questions. Dude had just as much patience with them as Leo does when they get into fifty questions mode. I usually distracted them with a game or something when they started to make my head spin. Lately the games have taken a slight training tone. That had been Leo's idea, he had started it at the farm and kept it up here when we had restless kids on our hands. Little tykes could almost tag us now, almost.

Donnie popped his head out of his lab. "Hey guys! I finally got the portal to work." He looked at Usagi. "You ready to go home?" Awww maan. I was going to miss the cool rabbit dude.

"I enjoy your company," he said as he stood up. "but I do long for home."

We all gathered to say our farewells in the lab. I got away with a simple later dude but his goodbye to Leo was a bit more serious...man they needed to chill out.

"Thank you again for everything, Leonardo."

"And I thank you as well, Usagi." Blah blah blah...ugh.

I walked over to Donnie. "So what was wrong with it?"

He gave me that 'you wouldn't understand' look. But he did try to answer it to where I could understand. That's what I liked about Donnie. If I took the time to ask he would do his best to answer me. "For some reason I wasn't getting enough power to it. I just turned up the power."

"Ah, ok. That makes sense, I guess."

Vicky and the kids were saying their goodbyes by now. When they finished Usagi turned and he looked at Donnie. "I am ready."

Donnie nodded and fired it up. Almost right off the bat an alarm went off and the portal shot open, and a wind began to fill the room trying to suck us into it. Donnie tried furiously to shut it down as it picked up. "Get out of here!" He yelled at us. "Something went wrong!"

"Donnie! What's happening!" Raph yelled over the noise and the wind picked up. He was trying to get to Cris.

"It looks like another portal from this world was open in the exact same spot! It's trying to merge with the other one." He was still trying to shut it down but it was harder now with him trying to fight the pull.

I heard Vicky scream as she lost the grip she had on the kids and they went flying through the air. Leo tried desperately to try and reach them but missed them by inches and they slipped through the portal. "NO!" she screamed and a moment later she dove after them. Then Cris lost her grip on the door she had almost made it out of and tumbled in right behind. Well this was great.

"Damn it!" Leo snarled as he let his grip go from the bed he was using to anchor himself and went in next. Raph and Usagi right on his tail. Donnie lost his grip on the console and crashed into me and we followed everyone else in. Here we go again crossed my mind, another day of weirdness.


	44. Chapter 44

Donnie and I swept through the portal and hit the ground hard, well I did, he ended up landing on me so I imagine I softened his fall. "Get off me dude. Your heavier than you look!"

"It's the shell." Donnie said. "They aren't exactly light."

"I don't care...get off!" I pushed him over and was about to get up when a crack sounded and a bullet whizzed over my head. So not cool. Only now was I noticing that we were not alone here, where ever here was. Man I was starting to get tired of this portal crap. I risked a quick glance around, the room we landed in was not a good place to be at the moment. It was full of trooper types with guns, like Bishop trooper types. And Bishop and those us wannabes, here we go again...

I had landed near the kids and I quickly rolled over them as gunfire rang out again. I could feel the impacts of the bullets on my shell as they were deflected away. I couldn't help but notice that the portal had snapped shut behind us. Oh this was going to be a great day, stuck with Bishop and our counterparts I don't know where, portal closed so we couldn't go back, I had two screaming kids under me and we were getting shot at. Hey what else could you ask for on a perfect day like this. Another set of troops came in, theses carrying those damn stun sticks. Now those could and would knock us on our asses, even through our shells. I guess there was always something else that could go wrong.

"Mikey! Get them out of here!" Leo shouted to me as he was trying to cover Vicky and fight off attackers at the same time. Now how in the hell was I supposed to do that? There was no way out...wait, maybe there was. I spied a vent high up on the wall near me. It was big enough for me to fit through, though Raph's fat ass would never fit, and I could reach it, but how was I going to open it with my hands full of screaming, crying kids? Not to mention they would easily be able to see me and take a cheap shot at me if I tried. Naturally this wasn't going to be easy.

Usagi rolled in next to me. "I see it too, Michelangelo. I will help you." He looked at the kids I was still covering. "Settle down little ones, we will get you away from here."

"I sure would like to know how." I grumbled, my mood was not a very happy one. I heard Leo scream as a stun stick hit him. I looked over just in time to see him rip it out of his plastron then kick the offender away. In a few moments I wouldn't have the chance anymore, they were closing in. "Leo! I need some cover bro!"

He looked around real quick then saw something he could use. That was Leo for you, he may not be the smartest of us but he was quickest to improvise something and once again he came through as he lept into the air and sliced open a pipe above him and steam came pouring out. That action cost him however as he was once again hit with a stun stick as he landed, then another. I felt torn, I knew I needed to get the kids out of here but I didn't want to abandon my family either. Donnie and Raph were also struggling to keep away from those damn sticks by now. Leo met my gaze as he dropped to his knees in pain. "Mikey! GO!" He growled out then turned to elbow one of the men away. Then the wall of steam came down and I couldn't see him, or the others, anymore.

Usagi and I ran over to the wall and he lept up and pushed the cover in with a kick and caught himself on the edge before he could fall back down. After pulling himself in he turned around and caught the kids as I sent them up then I followed them and quickly replaced the cover. With any luck they didn't catch where I had gone. I looked out the slits in the cover before I left, their luck had just run out as I watched Raph hit the floor, the others were already down. Now what do I do?

I looked over at Usagi and shook my head, he frowned as he caught the meaning behind that but stayed quiet. The sounds of soft sobs made me look down into two scared faces. First things first I needed to get them calmed down. Even I wasn't that dumb to try and sneak through a bag guy's place with crying kids. That was just asking for trouble.

"Ok you two." I said softly. "I know your scared but I need you to settle down. We can't do anything until you do." I grinned as I had an idea that just might help them. "Time for some ninja training. Today's lesson 'How to sneak'. Think we can do that?" They looked at me like I was nuts. I sighed. "Listen guys, if we are all going to get out of here I need you to work with me. And right now I need you to settle down and try to keep quiet. We'll figure this out."

"I want, Mommy." Amy said in a small voice. Her brother chimed in. "Me too."

I looked at Usagi and he nodded back at me. Good he was thinking the same thing as me, no way was I going to leave here without all of us. I looked back at the kids. "Well then, let's go get her my little ninjas." With that I lead the way further into the vent shaft. This was crazy, trying to do a break everyone out of Bishop's hideout scheme, with two kids and a rabbit. Well if one of us could do crazy, it was me. This time I was in my element and ol' creepy special agent guy didn't stand a chance...

.

.

I sat next to Leo as he groaned and came back around, it seemed like the others were starting to stir too. Those damn sticks...I wished I could get my hands on one, I'd shove it so far up Bishop's ass his eyes would light up like light bulbs. I hated them when I had watched the movie and I really hated them now.

I watched as he opened his eyes and tried to sit up, it took him a bit longer because his hands were tightly secured behind his back. He took in a quick sweep of the room we were in with his eyes. Apparently we had taken them by complete surprise when we came tumbling in and this was the only room they had that could hold us, for now. I wasn't sure how long we would all be locked up in the same room, even now I had a feeling Bishop was going to separate us as soon as he could. Good thing was we were at least all together, bad thing was they took no chances with the guys and had them bundled up tighter than hay bales, with heavy duty tow straps of all things and were all anchored to the wall. It would have been funny if it didn't work so well. Leo tugged at his restraints a bit, then his eyes flashed in anger and he glared at the bindings around his arms and legs.

Then his eyes settled on me and that's when the fires flared up in them. I was tied up myself, simple rope for us not so dangerous humans, and had my knees brought up to my chest trying to relive the pain. I had hit pretty hard when I came through the portal and that didn't do my cracked ribs any good. He saw the look on my face and was pissed, at what exactly I wasn't sure. Me hurting myself again, our current situation, the fact that this even happened or maybe all three rolled into one big Leo piss off. Then he seemed to notice something else, something that previously escaped his attention and he settled down. "Seems like a few bodies are missing." He said quietly.

"Clean getaway." Donnie confirmed. "They managed to slip out." I was relieved that the kids were at least out of harms way, for now.

"How did we even manage to get slipped in?" Raph growled, he was still trying to get free and his lack of success was pissing him off, bad.

Donnie sighed, tugging at his own bindings a little. "When I opened the portal it opened on top of one that had already been there, this caused the two portals to try and merge into one. Ours being the smaller one it got sucked into the larger one. That merging caused a huge vacuum and we got swept along in it to the source of the larger portal. Ta-da, we're here."

"Here in a big mess." Cris muttered from where she sat tied up between Donnie and I. I couldn't argue with her on that one. We had stumbled into something good, no doubt about that. And this time we hadn't even been looking, we were just trying to get Usagi home.

Leo had been scanning the room again, it seemed like some kind of storage room and he was obviously looking for something he could use. He found it but there was no way he could reach it. On the far wall, up out of reach, laid their weapons on a shelf. Mine weren't there since I hadn't been wearing them, they were back at the lair sitting uselessly on Leo's nightstand where he held them for me. They way we were all bundled up theirs were just as far out of reach even if they were in the same room. We were stuck.

.

.

Well at least the kids had grown quiet, they followed behind me and Usagi brought up the rear. It was a tight fit for us larger air breathers but the kids managed just fine. We followed the vent, for right now it was all we could do. I wasn't Donnie, I didn't have a fancy gadget to tell me where to go, I had to figure it out the hard way. That meant a lot of crawling around in vents trying to find something that would help me. Hey, I never said crazy Mikey plans were good, they just took longer to get done, that's why Leo is the leader. Well, that and he was smarter than me, no to mention I really didn't want it in the first place. Finally I found a vent cover with a whole gaggle of goons under me. I turned my head around and laid a finger to my lips and the kids nodded. Then I quietly listened.

"Bishop wants to ship them out of here. Says this place isn't to secure."

"How can this place not be secure? We have the best security and men, no one is going to get in."

"It's not someone getting in he's worried about, it's them getting out." Said the first. "They have a knack for getting loose."

"Oh come on, they can't be that good." Replied the second.

"You never met them, have you?" Asked a third.

"No."

"Your in for a treat. You better hope they don't get loose. Speaking of, we better go check on them. They should be waking up by now." The first one said

"I'll go with you, I want to see these turtles. Where are they?"

"In the storage room three doors down." Bingo...see crazy does pay off.

Carefully I made my way further down the shaft. These things were useful, no wonder all the turtles in all those cartoons Vicky watches use them. To bad we were so big that we couldn't fit in most of them. Stupid reality. But then being a big turtle had it's perks too. We were a lot more scarier for one, and way cooler. Ah there we are, this must be the room. I waited just to make sure.

"You realize we are depending on stupid, right." Hey...Did Raph just call me stupid? Ohhh I'm going to get him for that. In my mind I was already thinking up a good prank.

"Do we really have a choice at this point?" Ok Leo was here, good here in a bit he can take over with this crap.

I heard the door open. "Looks like you are going on a road trip. Bishop wants you all separated and shipped off, and just to make sure you don't give us any trouble..." I heard a slight gasp of pain, sounded like Vicky. "You will behave, if you give a damn about her."

"Let her go." Leo growled. "She's already hurt, your making it worse." Uh oooh I knew that tone. Someone was about to get a beating.

"Good, then maybe that will be your incentive to behave."

"I'll show you incentive." Raph growled.

Another voice joined in. This one very familiar, but with a darker undertone. "No, actually you won't." Leo's twin said. "It's time to go, your rides are ready. It's a shame your brother abandoned you. My little brother was looking forward to playing with him." Well, that just complicated my day. Now I had to up the crazy a bit. I looked at the kids, I had an idea and Vicky was going to kill me...


	45. Chapter 45

They untied our legs and forced everyone up. I was trying really hard to ignore the pain in my chest but the way the guard held me didn't make that easy. I noticed the others cast worried glances my way, especially Leo and Donnie. The former for personal reasons, the later for medical. I tried to give them a reassuring smile but they weren't buying it.

Dark Leo was watching it all with amusement then turned to his counterpart. "Still think she isn't a weakness to you?" Leo's eyes flashed, he was really getting to his boiling point. He had put up with a lot the last few days but even his patience had a limit and he was reaching it quickly. The monster just laughed at him and turned away. "Bring them to the garage." He told the guards.

The guards began pushing the guys out of the room. Just as they were herding Raph by me I saw something small, very small and white whiz by my head...was that a fucking _spitball? _It hit the guard holding me square in the face and he started doing the eeew gross slap it off maneuvers. Raph quickly took advantage of the distracted slapping himself guard and brought a leg out precisely nailing him in the face and the guard flew back. With the same leg still in the air he quickly adjusted it and pushed me with it away from the rest of the guards. I couldn't help the groan as I hit the floor, but at least I was out of the way as legs began lashing out.

Dark Leo avoided all of the commotion and had made his way to Cris and grabbed her. "I advise you to quit, or I'll break her neck." The guys looked at each other and let the few guards there were left be, and they weren't happy about it either. I was pulled back up to my feet by one of the few remaining guards standing and I stood there in shock as I saw a little form standing in the room where most of the clutter was. Dennis was standing there grinning, with a small thin pipe in his hand and he launched another spitball. This time at Dark Leo, who easily dodged it. Dennis, laughing now, ran behind some boxes. I was going to fucking kill Mikey...

"Get that little brat." Dark Leo growled and two guards went into the back of the room to go find him. While they were searching for him Amy popped into the door way and blew a raspberry, then flipped them the bird and then she, too, ran back out laughing. I was really going to kill Mikey. I looked with stunned wide eyes as two more guards rushed out the room to catch her, at Leo and he gave me the same look in return, what the hell was he doing? Neither set of guards however came back.

Dark Leo growled in frustration and, dragging Cris with him, went to go look himself. He apparently found his guards, knocked out on the floor, but no little boy. By now there were only three guards left out of the ten that were originally in the room. A, hubcap?, came flying in from behind us and nailed the guard holding me in the head and he went down. When I turned to look no one was there. By now Dark Leo had enough. "Show yourself or I swear to god I will rip her head off!"

His answer was more laughing from behind another pile of boxes. He again drug Cris with him and as he came up the the boxes the whole thing fell over on top of him and I saw a little form rush away to again disappear into the clutter. Cris used that to roll away from him as far as she could when he let her go, then made her way onto her feet again then she, too, disappeared in the overfilled room. Again I looked around, trying to figure out what they were up too and my eyes ran by the shelf Leo had been eyeing earlier. A shelf that was now empty of the weapons that had been on there not long before.

Amy came rushing back into the room, still laughing, with more guards behind her. She began to weave in and out between the guys, using them to dodge the guards as Dark Leo, now roaring in anger, struggled to get out from under the boxes. The guys were doing their part to help, kicking and tripping the guards and finally Amy ran into the back of the room and was gone, her laughter now silent.

Dark Leo was now tearing the room apart trying to find his little tormentors. I knew that feeling, they drove me nuts like that too sometimes but for some reason I felt no sympathy for him. Honestly I was trying really hard not to laugh. With Dark Leo now fully distracted with room rearranging and all the guards watching him, the reason for Amy's ring around the turtle game became clear. All of a sudden hands snapped free from behind them and I could see kunais in each turtle's hand. Yes the tow straps were tough, but were still only made of cuttable material and the boys kept their blades very sharp.

Dark Leo turned back to them just in time to see them free themselves from the rest of the straps. "Get them!" he snapped at his not paying attention guards.

They turned to see three loose but unarmed turtles and they moved in to restrain them. Right up until weapons began falling from the ceiling and were caught by the ones waiting below. I looked up to see a widely grinning Mikey, a softly chuckling Cris and two little faces trying to hold back their laughter peeping out of a vent. As the boys turned loose their frustration I felt someone behind me cutting me loose. I looked over to see Usagi as he swiftly removed the last of my ropes. Then he took my hand and lead me to the door.

By now the guards had been taken care of and Dark Leo wash rushing in. There was however one more surprise for him as a large, where in the hell did they find a printer?, landed on his head from above, effectively knocking him out. That was it, I couldn't hold it back anymore, I bust out in laughter holding my side in pain as I did.

Leo was also trying to hold back his amusement. "Come on. Let's get out of here." Raph was just shaking his head and Donnie was chuckling as Mikey and the others joined us. Before we left Raph picked up Amy, Mikey took Dennis and I took a moment to arm myself with one of the dropped stun sticks. Then we left the room.

"Where to?" Raph asked Leo as we made our way down the long hallway. I was trying to keep up but was having a real hard time, even with Usagi helping me along.

"Out preferably." Came Leo's reply.

"Well that was a helpful reply." Raph grumbled. He shifted Amy around in his arms.

"I don't know Raph. I don't even know where we are."

"Isn't this the hallway leading to the portal room?" Donnie brought up. "If we can get back there maybe I can hook into their system and find us a way out."

"Fine, it's better than running around hoping to find a way out." Leo said and lead us towards the room we originally got caught in. When we barged into the room however it was not unoccupied. Bishop was in there along with a crap load of his toadies and the other three turtles. They looked like they were about to enter the portal.

Donnie took a quick look at his display. "It's set to Usagi's world."

Leo took a quick look around, we were obviously not going to make it to the console. Bishop's men and the other turtles were already heading towards us. He growled in frustration then made a decision that kind of shocked us all. "There is no way we are going to find a way out of here without getting caught again. We go through the portal."

"What?!" Raph exploded. "How are we going to get home from there?"

Donnie had narrowed his eyes in thought. "I think I know of a way and Leo is right. We need to get out of here and that's our only chance."

"Move!" Leo snapped and he began to clear a path towards the portal as the first of the guards reached us. He and Usagi stayed close to me as they fought. Raph quickly handed Amy to Cris and covered Donnie as he was doing something on his display. "I hope this works." He muttered as he finished and pulled out his bo staff. Mikey seemed to be doing just fine with one hand and two legs. I couldn't help a smile, even as serious as the situation was, as I heard the kids hooping and hollering with glee as the guys kicked some serious ass.

They fought their way to the portal and Bishop realized where we were trying to go. He turned to shut it down and Leo quickly reached into his belt and launched a shurikan at him. Not trying to hit him but trying to keep him from messing with the portal, then launched a few more for good measure. Bishop managed to dodge them all but by the time he evaded the last one we were already on our way through.

Once we hit the ground on the other side Usagi took a quick look around. "I know where we are. Quickly, follow me." He led us at a run, a run I couldn't keep up with anymore. My chest was seriously hurting now and I was slowing them down. Raph, who had been running behind me, scooped me up with out breaking stride. I just laid there in his arms holding my side tightly, it hurt to even breath now. I caught Leo shooting me a worried look but we kept running. Cris was starting to lag under the extra weight of carrying Amy and Donnie took the little girl. Finally Usagi led us to a densely forested area and we slipped into the trees. Leo took the time to look behind us and noticed Bishop's troops spilling out onto the field we had just escaped. By the looks of it they had no idea where we went.

As Leo kept watch Donnie told Raph to put me down then did a quick scan. "Her fractures are getting worse Leo. If we keep this up it's going to end up being completely broken ribs."

Leo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "We need to find a place to hole up. It's going to be getting dark soon anyway."

"There is a cave not far from here. It will do for tonight." Usagi told him.

"Well that takes care of the roof over our heads, now what about chow?" Mikey said as Leo picked me up.

Usagi smiled as he began to lead us again. "This is my home world, I believe I have the knowledge to be able to fill your stomach."

"I sure hope so." Raph said. "If you think he is bad now, he gets ten times worse when he's hungry."

"Still nowhere near as bad tempered as you are." Mikey looked at him and grinned. With out even changing expressions Raph gave him a good shove and Mikey went tumbling through the underbrush. Leo just shook his head and sighed as I let out a small chuckle. No matter where we were those two would never change


	46. Chapter 46

I couldn't sleep, my side hurt to much to let me. Not to mention the ground was cold and hard. I shifted my position as I tried to get rid of a rock that seemed to be intent on staying stuck under my hip. Leo felt the movement, since I was leaning up against him, and took his hand and brushed the rock out of the way for me. "You need to sleep." He murmured quietly to me.

"I can't." Came my simple reply.

He just sighed then looked at the entrance to the cave where Raph kept watch. Donnie and Usagi had gone out, both to scout out the area and to find some plants, and I knew he wouldn't settle down until they got back. I shifted again against him, trying to get as much body heat from him as I could. I was cold and we had no blankets or any kind of supplies really. None of us were really prepared for this unexpected camping trip. Usagi had managed to find something for us to eat though, so at least we didn't go hungry, even if it was a weird meal of nuts, berries and a few of what I assumed were some kind of wild ground dwelling birds.

After we had eaten we let the fire go out, the cave wasn't large enough to hide the flame and we didn't want Bishop's goons to use the light to find us. Now the chill of night was settling in, further aggravating my chest. It wasn't as cold as back home but it was definitely winter here too. Leo did the best he could to keep me warm but I couldn't help the slight shivers running over my body. Mikey was propped up against the wall next to us, the kids on his lap and leaning on his chest, fast asleep. His arms were wrapped around them, just like Leo's were around me, to give out some extra body heat to them. Cris was sitting in between both turtles and they shared their warmth with her as well, making sure she also had as much body contact as they could give her as they had pretty much sandwiched her. Leo pressed against her right side and Mikey against her left as they all leaned against the wall. The result was one big huddle, but at least Cris and the kids were able to sleep, Cris with her head leaning against Mikey's shoulder. It wasn't comfortable way to spend the night but at least this way no one would get dangerously cold.

I could feel Leo tense under me as Raph turned his head and looked out into the darkness, hands flashing to his sais, then relaxing a moment later as he seemed to recognize what ever it was he saw. A few moments later Donnie and Usagi came back into the cave and Leo settled down as well. Raph resumed his watch as they made their way over toward us.

Usagi knelt down next to me and placed some leaves in my hand. "Donatello assures me that these are safe for you. Chew on them, they will help with the pain. I do warn you however they are very bitter. When you feel them starting to work spit the leaves out, do not swallow them. The juice in the leaves will help the pain, the leaves themself will make you sick to your stomach."

"Thank you." I told him as I took them from him. Then placed them into my mouth, and immediately gagged. "God...they are bitter."

He smiled. "No warning ever seems to be enough with those leaves." Usagi then turned his attention to Leo. The forest is clear but the field beyond is now a campsite for their forces. I am assuming they are trying to block your way back."

"And our look alike pains in the ass are with them." Donnie joined in. Then frowned a little. "I don't think we are the only reason they are here though. We just happened to be an unfortunate interference to what they already had planned. There are way to many men out there to just simply block us from going back."

"Any ideas on what it is?" Leo asked him.

"I think whatever they were looking for is here, we just happened to get sucked into what they were doing, literally."

"What could be here that they need?" Usagi asked baffled. "My world is primitive compared to yours."

"And I'm wondering if they acted out on their own at Stockman's or were they working for Bishop." Leo added.

"I don't know. But I would assume they know of Bishop's plan for this world and planned to double cross him when they went to deal with Stockman's portal. It's something they would do. As for what they are looking for, I still can't tell you. I don't really want to do any search signatures right now. It would be like a beacon to them in this world and would lead them right to us."

"Can't you block them? Like they did to you at the farm?" Mikey asked quietly to keep from waking the kids and Cris.

"That's a risk I'd rather not take. We are in no way ready to deal with them if it don't work." He sighed. "That also means there is nothing I can do right now to get us home. I just hope what I did at Bishop's will be enough but for right now all we can do is wait and watch."

Leo leaned his head back against the wall. "I don't like any of this."

"Join the club." Raph muttered from the cave entrance.

"We'll take turns pulling double watch tonight, one here at the cave and one out there on them. See if you can keep an eye on them somehow, Raph. Let me know as soon as they move out, we'll follow them. If we can't go home then let's find out what they are up to. Honestly I don't think they will move out tonight anymore though." Raph nodded and slipped out of the cave. Leo turned to Donnie. "You mind taking the cave watch?"

"Not at all. I'll see if I can find some more of those leaves for Vicky but I'll stay near the cave." Leo nodded and Donnie also slipped out.

"The rest of you get some rest." Usagi nodded and wormed his way into our little huddle. By the time he was done he had Cris laying in the same position as the kids and I were in, on his lap with his back against the wall. He was so smooth he didn't even wake her up. His added body heat was starting to be felt in our little cluster and I actually started to warm up a bit more. Between that and the leaves actually working I began to feel drowsy. I managed to remember to spit them out and toss them into the fire pit before I drifted off to sleep.

I woke up later to the feel of a soft shake on my shoulder, it was still dark as I blinked my still sleepy eyes open. I found myself staring up at Donnie as Leo went to wake the others. Apparently they had switched out last night and I found myself wrapped up in Donnie's arms. Raph had switched places with Mikey and was holding Cris and the kids. Usagi was already up and out of the cave. "Time to go." Donnie told me softly handing me some more leaves. "They are starting to move out there and are heading this way."

Donnie had to help me up, I was so stiff from the cold and needless to say I really needed those leaves he gave me. Cris and the kids seemed to be cold too but there wasn't much we could do about it right now. None of us were dressed for this mess. Usagi did however come over to give the kids something to snack on. "Here, you can eat as we go." Then he picked up Amy and Raph scooped up Dennis and we made our way out of the cave. Just in time too, as the telltale flickering of flash lights started to come through the woods.

Leo and Usagi led us off into the woods out the way of the direction they were heading, hoping they would cross behind us then we would adjust our course to follow them. Donnie had made his way to walk along side Leo. "We have got to find them something to wear. What they have isn't warm enough."

"I'm already working on it Donnie." Leo replied quietly. "I'm hoping to pick off some stragglers once we get behind them. We'll swipe their gear."

Mikey came up from where he had been bringing up the rear. "The lights moved across our path. It should be ok to start following them now. Leo nodded and we changed our course through the woods until we were doing just that. I felt like a friggin clutz out here. Those five moved with no sound and I was stepping on all kinds of dead branches and twigs. I was starting to worry I would give us away and I sighed in frustration. "It's ok." Donnie told me softly. "When we get to the point where we need you to be quiet we'll just carry you. They are quite a ways ahead of us still and they won't hear you over the racket they are making."

Finally Leo stopped, looking intently ahead of him. Without a word he motioned to Mikey and the two slipped off alone into the darkness of the predawn morning. We waited and I began to shiver in the cold now that we weren't moving. Cris and the kids didn't look much better. After about ten minutes they came back, again slipping silently through the darkness. In their arms they held bundles of dark clothing. Mikey chuckled as he passed the clothing out. "Well someone is going to have a frost bitten ass here pretty soon."

Gratefully I pulled on the warmer clothes Leo handed me, they were a few sizes to large but they were warmer than the sweats I had on. I was trying so hard to pull them on I moved to fast and jerked my ribs. Donnie came over as he heard me hiss. "Slow down, here let me help you."

Cris also quickly pulled on the clothing she was given while Leo and Mikey bundled up the kids. The result was a little bit comical with them wearing clothing way to big for them but with a quick tailoring session with a kunai Leo made it work. We wouldn't win any fashion contests but at least now we would be warm.

"Let's circle of to the east, they might come this way looking for their missing friends." Leo told us. Once again the kids were picked up and we were on the move. After awhile Leo motioned to Donnie and Mikey and they smoothly turned and picked Cris and I up. We must be getting close because now we moved with absolute silence. We shadowed them for about another ten, fifteen minutes, don't ask me how in the hell they even could do that with out even seeing their targets, then this time Raph stopped and the others followed his example. We had reached the edge of the woods. By now the sun was making it's way up and the sky way beginning to lighten.

Carefully Leo pushed aside some of the thick underbrush and we peered out. "Looks like they found what they were looking for." Raph muttered.

"Not quite." Donnie replied softly. As we watched the soldiers start to form up in the middle of the small field. "They still seem a bit clueless out there."

"Usagi, do you know what could be in this area?" Leo asked his friend.

He had a thoughtful expression on his face for a moment. "Yes and no, Leonardo. There is a legend of a large crystal buried somewhere in this field but none have been able to find it."

"What type of crystal?" Donnie asked interested.

"I am not even sure, my friend. No one is. All I can tell you that something very precious was lost here hundreds of years ago."

"Well it looks like it's about to be found." Mikey said pointing. Dark Donnie was out in the field now scanning the ground.

"I can't make out what's going on down there." Donnie growled in frustration.

Leo looked around. "We need to get closer." Then he looked at me. "But your not coming. I'm not going to risk you hurting yourself any more than you already are. Not to mention the kids." Well, I couldn't argue with that one. This time I acknowledged his authority and just nodded in agreement. He knew how much I hated being left behind but this time I had really no choice, and that bastard knew it too... I did stick my tounge out at him though. He smiled and then turned to Cris. "Your staying with them." She looked like she was about to argue with him, right up until he released his icy blue glare at her. Not even Raph messed with that glare. She just sighed and also nodded. Then his look softened again. "I know you both want to go, and honestly I really don't want to leave you here, but there are two little ones we need to think about as well. They could get hurt if we get discovered."

I sighed. "I know, Leo. We'll wait here. Maybe find a better place to hide than behind these bushes."

Mikey grinned at me. "Just make sure you stay out of the trees." He dodged the stick I threw at him and then they were gone.


	47. Chapter 47

I hated leaving them behind, I really did. I wanted nothing more than to have them safe next to me but here soon it wouldn't be safe. As much as I wanted them here I wasn't blinded enough by worry to bring them closer to danger. They were a safe distance away and if they kept quiet and hidden they would be fine. Now I focused my attention on trying to figure out what the hell Bishop was up to. Anything involving Bishop required our attention when he was up to one of his schemes, usually because he would put the lives he was trying to 'protect' into danger. The man was so blinded by his hate for aliens that he would sacrifice anyone to keep them away. I've seen him do it before and he was probably up to something now. The sad thing was he had government backing so he could get away with it. I couldn't help but wonder how they could be so blind to support him, but then sometimes I wondered why most humans do anything they did.

"Where are we going Leo?" Raph asked me quietly as we moved through the forest.

"I'm going to see if we can get close enough to figure out what's going on." I looked at Usagi, I was glad that we ran into the rabbit, his knowledge of the area right now would help us out a lot. "Is there anything we can use to get close?"

"There is a ditch that holds a creek on the far side of the field. It runs not far from where they are gathered. That should suffice to get us near and the creek runs through the woods not far in this direction. We can slip from the forest into the ditch with minimal effort."

"Oh great." Mikey grumbled. "That water is going to be cold."

"At least you'll get your bath out of the way." Raph told him.

"Just don't get my gear wet with all of your splashing." Donnie added.

"Focus, guys." I loved my brothers dearly, would with no problem leave my life in their hands, but sometimes they made me want to pull my hair out, if I had hair. Not long after we found the ditch we were looking for and made our way through the cold water. The ditch was barely large enough to cover us, we were pretty much on our hands and knees but it did get us close unseen. It was the unheard I was worried about as Mikey started his grumbling. I took Vicky's idea from earlier and threw a stick at him. He looked at me and I mouthed to him 'shut up', he followed her idea by sticking his tongue out. Raph followed his own idea and smacked him. Sometimes I really wonder how we don't get caught at this kind of thing more often.

By now we had moved close enough to where we could listen.

"Where is it?" Came the voice of my opposite. We froze, that voice was very close.

"It's about 50 feet down." Came the other Donnie's voice.

"How in the hell are we supposed to get to that? I'm not sure the drill Bishop so stupidly provided us will be able to reach it."

"I don't know. You just told me to find it and I did. Getting it out is your problem."

"Your mouth is getting as big as your brain. I'm about ready to do something about it."

"Go ahead, please do, then you can figure out how to activate the crystal's energy own your own." Well now, what was this all about? I looked at Donnie and he was fully intent on the conversation.

"Please the machine is already set up. Your involvement is pretty much over now." Machine? What machine?

"Keep thinking that. Do you actually think I would give you all of the information? I'm not that stupid. Master Shredder taught me better than that." This tidbit made my eyes widen and I could feel the others exchange surprised looks. Well that explains a lot... "You try and activate the thing without me and it will blow up in your face." Come on, come on, spill it...what type of machine is it?

"Well the piece of shit better work, or I will have your damn head."

"Oh, please. Your insults are childish, of course it will work, I'm not sure if the Master's plan will though. Our counterparts are proving to be more difficult than we thought at first."

"I'm not worried about them. It's only a matter of time before they slip up. They are trapped here with no way home, with an injured woman and two brats, they are bound to do something drastic here soon. _He_ cares to much about her to think straight."

"You already underestimated him once, even the woman." There was a slight chuckle. "Hows the cheek?"

"Shut your god damn mouth before I shut it for you..."

"Still sensitive I see. My point is, they are very resourceful and still could be a threat to the Master's plan."

"I doubt that. Once we have the crystal they will be unable to do anything. We will leave and shut the portal behind us. Let them rot here."

"What's the matter? You don't want to face him again? I thought you would be out there hunting them."

"Oh, I'm not done with him, but the Master made his wishes very clear. We get the crystal then go. Even I'm not that foolish as to go against his wishes. I'll come back for him, and the tramp, after we help the Master obtain control of the city. Once this portal is open nothing will be able to hold back the army he'll be able to bring through it." This was not good, not good at all. We had no choice now, we had to get our hands on that crystal first. But I was damned if I knew how.

"We have a problem." Came a new voice. Raph's double. "Stupid and I were escorting the drill here and found some of the troops out in the woods not far from here. They had been taken out and stripped. It had to have been them."

My counterpart sounded very smug as he talked to their Donnie. "See, I told you they would slip up. Raphael take about two squads with you and see if you can flush them out. Get your hands on the women and children if you can, they will make sure those fools stay nice and docile."

Shit, we had to get back to them, now. But there was also the situation of the drill to be dealt with. I made a hard choice at that point. The drill was the bigger threat, if they got that crystal the whole city would be in danger. But I couldn't ignore the innocent children in the woods either. I looked at Mikey, he was the fastest out of all of us. I mouthed the word 'Go" and he nodded and took off. I hoped he would be enough then I focused my attention on the drill coming in. The others and I made our way back out of the ditch and then through the woods to intercept it.

.

.

From where we were hiding I could see a group of men break away from the main group and they were headed our way. I also could see the large form leading the group. I couldn't handle Dark Leo, there was no way I was going to go up against Dark Raph. "Cris we gotta go. Now."

"No argument there." She said as she watched them get closer to the wood line. We each grabbed a child and pulled them away as fast as we could, which wasn't really fast or quiet. Not by their standards, they didn't have cracked ribs and two kids slowing them down. So I wasn't really surprised when I heard the sounds of footsteps running to catch up to us. But what worried me were the footsteps I couldn't hear.

I began looking at the trees all around us as we ran, my hand firmly clasping the stun stick I had swiped from on of our guards yesterday. Even as ready as I was for him he still took us by complete surprise when he emerged from the trees beside us and I was barely able to duck away from him, once again the now familiar pain shot through my chest. I ignored it and brought the stick around and turned it loose on his arm and Cris brought her hanbo down hard on the back of his knees. It was enough to stun him and knock him over and we took the chance to keep running. It wasn't long however before he was back up on his feet, this time not even making an effort to be quiet in his anger as he chased us.

He closed in on us and managed to grab a hold of Cris, smoothly disarming her as she tried to bring the hanbo back around. It went flying off into the woods as he knocked it out of her hands. He then grabbed Amy who was with Cris. My feet planted firmly into the ground as he put his filthy hand on my daughter and I charged back in fully intending to set both my daughter and friend free. He just looked at me and laughed and was not paying attention to the hanbo as it came flying back in from the woods, hitting him square in the face.

That made him let go, and if that didn't then the form of Mikey crashing into him right after would have. "Dude seriously, you need to work on your manners. That's not how you get a date." Then he dropped a spin kick on the still stunned form sending him into a tree. Then he turned and swiftly picked the kids up as Cris retrieved her weapon. "Come on! Move!" He ushered us ahead of him and once again we were running. I was getting tired of running, seems like all we did the last 32 hrs was run and sneak, and I sucked at both right now. Mikey was goofy but not stupid, he knew the situation full well and it didn't look good. I saw him beginning to look for other options.

He seemed to find what he was looking for when he cut in front of us forcing us to stop. Then swiftly he placed the kids in a hollowed out area under some tree roots. It looked like some kind of animal den had been dug out there. Then he turned to us. "Get in, it's large enough for both of you. Hurry!" He practically took Cris and shoved her in. As soon as I was in he hurriedly covered it the best he could with dead branches and leaves. Then he slipped out of sight himself.

Just a few seconds later the troops that had followed us arrived into the area. I placed my hands over the kids' mouths as we watched through the little cracks in the cover Mikey had provided for us. We couldn't see much, but it was enough to know what was going on out there.

"Where did they go?" One of them asked.

"I don't know but they have to be around here somewhere. They weren't that far ahead of us."

Suddenly there was the unmistakable sound of a shell hitting a tree, hard. We couldn't see from this angle what had happened. I got a bad feeling when Dark Raph walked into view though and it was confirmed when he bent over and picked up a stunned Mikey by the throat and slammed him into another tree holding him there. "Where are they." He growled at my friend.

"You must be stupid if you think I'm going to tell you that." Mikey quipped.

He got slammed back into the tree again. "That mouth of yours is very annoying."

"I know, that's why I do it. Come on I grew up with beatings worse than that from my own Raph. You actually think that hurt?" I could tell he was bluffing, he was hurting and I knew it. He would be damned if he let that monster catch on to it though.

"Fine, smart mouth." He snarled and pulled out a sai and placed it under Mikey's chin. "I'll just kill you and find them myself." I looked on in wide eyed horror as he drew back his arm to deliver that fatal blow.


	48. Chapter 48

"NO!" I screamed, again jarring my ribs as I broke through the barrier Mikey had put over us. I could not, would not, let him kill Mikey. Stun stick in my hand I lashed out at Dark Raph and got a good hit on his sensitive side making him loose his grip on the other turtle. He recovered this time quicker and hit me with a back hand that sent me flying against a tree. I heard, and felt, a crack in my chest and pain exploded inside me as I collapsed to the ground. I recovered just enough to see the larger turtles's shadow cross over me as he approached.

"Vicky!" Mikey cried out to me as he tried to come and help but was surrounded and stunned himself by the soldiers, there were to many for him to take on and he collapsed, writhing in pain, as numerous stick ripped their nastiness into his body. I looked up into the dark eyes and saw no mercy in them, his sai that had been about to kill Mikey was now aimed for me. "Fuck taking you alive. My brother is just going to have to deal with your corpse." He growled as he swung the weapon in.

.

.

This was not going to be easy but then it hardly ever was. "Donnie, what's the best way to take that thing out?" I asked my tech savvy brother.

Donnie looked over the current situation. The stupid thing was being driven along the woods slowly, escorted by one bad Mikey and about thirty men. They were clearly expecting trouble, our kind of trouble apparently. There were a lot of stun sticks out there. Donnie looked over the machine itself next as it lumbered along on it's tracks, plowing trees over as it made it's way to the field. His eyes narrowed. "The quickest way would be to take out a track. If I can get closer to it and up into the cockpit on top I can permanently disable it."

Raph scowled "Getting close might be a problem though."

"I'm so glad you noticed that, Raph." I sighed.

"Bite me."

I looked around, trying to get an idea, even one of Mikey's crazy ones would be nice right about now. There was no way I was going to charge thirty men. I came back to the crazy Mikey aspect as I got an idea, it was risky but just might work. If we were quick enough to pull it off. "Donnie, your about to come into contact with your inner jungle turtle."

"Say what?" Donnie looked at me confused.

"Oh, no...He's gone Mikey on us." Raph muttered.

Usagi looked a little confused at first then once I explained the whole plan he understood. Donnie looked a little pissed though. "Sometimes I hate being the smart one." He mumbled.

"We need to get close and it's the only way. Let's go." We then broke our huddle and moved into position. Crazy Mikey plan, don't fail us now...

.

.

A shurikan came flying in and knocked the sai out of his hand just before it reached me. "Hey, big mean and ugly! Why don't you pick on someone who can fight back?" My eyes widened in shock. It couldn't be...I knew that voice...How? An obviously just as stunned Dark Raph turned to the sound of the voice, and promptly got himself a face full of turtle foot, a much smaller turtle foot, and he went spinning away and got crashed into a tree headfirst himself this time. Boy, the trees were getting a lot of abuse today.

The blue banded form of the smaller turtle landed softly in front of me. "Well this wasn't exactly how I had hoped to meet you again." It _was_ him! "Excuse me a moment, we have another friend to help out." And he flipped easily away as a stun stick came in from behind. As he was in the air he reached down and landed a punch to his attackers face, sending him into a nearby tree. As he landed again three other forms burst out of the woods in flips of their own and began to cause major mayhem to the troops surrounding Mikey.

By now Cris had joined my side with the kids, she watched in wide eyed amazement at the smaller figures mowing over the now very confused soldiers. "Is that...are they...am I...Noooooo."

"Oh yes." I was grinning widely now. "Your looking at the 90s movie version."

"This is fucking awesome!" She was actually bouncing up and down in glee, clapping her hands in excitement.

"Come on, we need to move. This is not a good place to be sitting." I tried to get up, and failed miserably. I crashed back into the tree, gasping in pain. "Okay, I guess I'm not moving."

Little Leo, I smiled as I remembered their private nicknames I gave them to keep from getting confused, caught my movement and frowned. "Donnie, I think your help is needed over by the tree." He ducked a stun stick and cut it in half, then grabbed the end still being held and smashed it into the holder's face. By now they had cleared all of Mikey's tormentors away from him and was giving him time to recover.

Donnie twisted around a clumsy jab and brought his staff in with a smack as he hit the man in the back, sending him stumbling away. "Get out of my way, stumble feet." The man stumbled right into Little Raph's fist as he brought it up to meet his face. Then Little Donnie was by my side. "Hello again, Vicky. You look like shit. Been trying to knock down a wall with your face since the last time we met?"

I smiled. "No Donnie. I fell out of a tree, among other things." I grew quiet at that, then sighed. "It's a long story."

"One I'd love to hear, I'm sure, but not now. What's wrong."

"She's got cracked ribs from the fall out of the tree." Cris told him. "And that big muscle bound menace of a mutant just smashed her into this one."

His expression grew a little concerned as he quickly pulled up my shirt and gently probed my rib cage. "It's more than a crack now, it's broken. Do not move, if you do you might pierce a lung, or something else." He looked over at the now not fighting turtles. Mikey was unsteady on his feet but he was up. "Raph throw me my bag."

"Damn it." Mikey whispered. "Leo is going to kill me."

Little Leo looked up at him. "I seriously doubt it. At least I wouldn't but I would want to take the matter up with the individual who put her in that condition in the first place." Then he looked at me and again a slight frown crossed his lips. "As a matter of fact, I hope I get the chance."

Little Donnie caught the bag and pulled out some supplies. "The best I can do right now is wrap them as tight as I can." He looked over at Mikey. "You going to be alright there, big guy?"

"Yeah, they hurt like a bitch but the effects wear off after awhile."

"I need me one of those." Little Raph grinned. "I could pester Mikey for weeks with one."

"Never mind." Little Leo told him.

By now Little Donnie was done and he carefully helped me up after I rearmed myself with one of the sticks. Then he looked in slight surprise at the kids who looked right back up at him, with their usual turtle loving smiles. "Um, since when to you take your kids on outings where you get beat up?"

"Since it wasn't supposed to happen in the first place." I told him. "I never planed on bringing them here, it was all just one big screwy mess."

Little Leo also looked uneasy about the fact. "Come on, lets get out of here before these others wake up, especially the big one. Mikey get the kids." Since he didn't specify which Mikey they both went and picked one up. Then with Little Donnie's help I made my way with the others into the woods. God by this point I really just wanted to go home.

.

.

"Now!" I snapped and Raph and I pushed on the old, large, dead tree, and go figure it wouldn't budge. Growling in frustration, we didn't have time to fight with it, I grabbed him by the arm and we backed up then went after it again with a running start and two flying kicks. That did the trick and the old tree fell, the timing was perfect as it took out the first rank of troops as they were starting to pass. Raph and I retreated back further into the woods as the drill came to a stop. Raph went up a tree and I circled around to join up with Usagi in the rear. Most of the troops had gone to the front to see what had happened, leaving the rear lightly guarded. I could hear their Mikey screaming orders at them to get rid of the tree. "Are you ready?" I asked him.

"Yes." Without another word we swept in on the few guards that were remaining in the back. I had every intention of taking out as many guards as I could before Donnie made his entrance. After the last one fell we slipped back into the woods.

By now even their dimwitted Mikey figured out something was up and he repositioned the men he had left. Between the tree and our little ambush we had put a dent in them but there were still more than I wanted to deal with. All it took was one lucky hit with those damn sticks and one of us would be in some serious trouble.

Usagi and I made our way back to the front and snuck up one the ones working on trying to move to the tree out of the way. As the last of those fell the gig was up, their Mikey came spinning over the tree and landed near us. "I'm getting real sick of you." He said as he moved in on us. His soldiers were also coming around the tree, or over it, and moving in on us.

With all the attention on us Donnie came swinging in from a vine and brought his feet out in front of him and crashed into the cockpit the driver came crashing out the other side. Mikey's twin finally caught on and he spun himself back over the tree, trying desperately to save the drill. "You fucking bumbling idiot!" Entered a new, furious, voice. "You couldn't figure out that's what they were after the whole time!" Well, I was wondering when he would show up.

"That's what happens when you leave Mikey in charge of anything. Your the idiot if you can't figure that out. And your Mikey is even dumber than ours." I goaded as I met him head on. My counterpart's already agitated temper flared up into fury. He was getting pathetically predictable, piss him off and he looses all of his focus.

Their Donnie raced by me and followed his Mikey up the drill, my quickly working brother obviously their target. As fast as they were, Raph was faster as he swung in himself and knocked them right back off the drill again. Then Donnie came diving out of the cab and that was our cue to go. Usagi and I pushed my counterpart and the troops away and fled back into the forest. Behind us the forest rocked with the sound of an explosion and we weren't quite out of range and the shock wave hit us. Landing in rolls Usagi and I quickly got back up and kept going.

The drill was now no longer a threat, now it was time to find the rest of my family. I wasn't going to leave them out there any longer. We met up with Donnie and Raph and all four of us ran as fast as we could to where we had left them, only to stumble into more troops. Shit! He must have sent more out after the first batch, just in case. Weapons came out as we tore into them but this time our luck had run out. Donnie got hit full in the side with a stun shock, he tried frantically to pull it out as I moved towards him, trying get to him to help and he got nailed with another one. This time he went down on his knees. I reached him and tore the stick away from him and smacked their owners with them, breaking the sticks on their bodies.

"Come on Donnie." I helped him up. "Time to go." I got him on his feet only to realize we were surrounded. "Or not." Raph and Usagi also had their hands full, we were stuck.

"What now Leo!" Raph called.

"Try to break through! It's the only thing we can do!" I was supporting a still wobbly Donnie and my own order was hard for me to fill out.

"WhoooOOO!" Came a familiar cry as a large form came swinging in on a vine and landed in a fury of feet and fists in the middle of the troops.

"Mikey! You pea brain! You should have stayed away, there are to many!" I told him in frustration, what was he thinking! He had something more important to tend to!

"Chill, bro. I brought you a surprise."

"I'm scared to ask." I heard Raph sigh.

"Then don't." Said another voice as he came flying in from the side. "I'm sure he wouldn't tell you anyway. You'll just have to wait and see what it is." I turned and looked into the grinning face of my smaller counterpart. Shortly after his three brothers joined in. "Seems like we have to save your shells again." He winked at me.

"Well what do you know, it worked after all." Donnie grinned. "Wasn't quite sure you would get my message since I was being shot at and chased when I sent it."

"Ok braniac, save the pattin' on the back for later." Raph's little twin said. "How about we get out of here now."

"No complaints on that idea." I replied. Mikey's tumbling entrance had left us an opening to work with and Donnie and I made good use of it. We slipped through that hole and made a bigger one when we met up with Mikey. When there was only four of us it would have been close, now with nine we were redecorating the forest with them. Especially Mikey. For some reason he seemed more agitated than he usual self and he let it out on these men, there were quite a few of them hanging from the trees. Finally the last one fell and we slipped away, by now I was anxious to join up with the others. It was getting to risky to be separated out here and I wasn't going to let it happen again.


	49. Chapter 49

I really didn't feel good. I leaned my head back against the tree I was leaning on and closed my eyes as we waited for them to come back. We were close enough to hear the fight taking place and Little Donnie had stashed us in this thicket so they could go help. Besides my chest hurting I was cold again and also now dealing with a headache, one bad enough to make my stomach upset and I was so tired. Overall I was just plain miserable. I felt more than heard him kneel down next to me and I tiredly opened my eyes. Leo was taking in my new scrapes and cuts with a slight frown on his face. "What happened?" He asked Mikey as he continued to check me over. It didn't take long for him to find my new bandages and his frown turned into a scowl.

Mikey sighed as the others got quiet. "Leo, I'm sorry." For once he was dead serious, not even trying to make a pun or joke. "I tried to keep her safe."

Leo closed his eyes and stood up then turned to Mikey who had walked over to him. "No little brother, this isn't your fault. You did the best you could. What happened?"

"He slammed her against a tree." Mikey replied softly.

"Shit." Donnie muttered. "Her ribs..."

"Are broken." Little Donnie confirmed.

Again Leo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I've just about had enough of them." He said in an icy tone.

"They aren't winning any popularity contests with us either." Little Leo added.

"So what's the plan?" Raph asked.

Leo looked at the smaller turtles. "How did you get here?"

"I sent them the coordinates." Donnie said. "I figured they might be able to help us get back home."

Little Donnie nodded. "That we can do. There is one minor complication though."

"Always is." Both Raphs muttered.

"I had to close our portal behind us to keep anyone from accidentally stumbling on it. I have a device with me that can get us back but it's only good for one portal." He looked at Leo. "I'm sorry but I didn't expect anyone to be hurt so bad. I could take her and the kids back but it might take me awhile to open another one. My stuff isn't as good as your Donnie's. He has had more experience with this than me."

"Again no apologies are necessary." Leo said softly. "I'm just grateful for the help." He let out a frustrated sigh and knelt down next to me again. "I know your hurting and I hate to do this to you." He sighed again, I could tell he was beyond frustrated at this point. "But we have to get that crystal before they do. We have only one shot at this."

I figured this would be the case. I wasn't going to lie I wanted nothing more than to go home and stay in bed for a month, but not at the potential cost. Mikey had filled us in on their plans and at this point I agreed with Leo. I just hoped I wouldn't jeopardize them in my condition. "It's fine Leo, I fully understand."

"So, how exactly are we supposed to get it?" Raph asked. "Tarzan Donnie over there blew up the drill."

"Ha ha. Don't make fun of me for Leo's idea." Donnie said. "Usagi what can you tell us about that field?"

"It is said that there used to be an underground cave there. The crystal was placed there for safe keeping but the entrance to the cave collapsed causing it to be lost in the first place."

"A cave where the opening was a large hole in the field?"

"I am not sure but given the location I would believe so, yes."

Donnie thought about that a minute. I'm assuming from the size of that ditch, that creek overflows a lot doesn't it?"

"Yes."

"What are you getting at Donnie?" Cris asked him.

He thought again for a few moments. "That crystal is awfully close to that creek. Think about it, if the opening was on the field and that creek overflowed, water would go pouring into that cave. Yet they were still able to get into it to hide the crystal."

"So?" Mikey said.

"So..If they could get into that cave..."

"The water must have drained out somewhere else." Little Donnie finished for him. "Another opening." They finished together."

"It's a long shot." Little Leo said. "But it's the only one we have."

"Alright. Let's start a perimeter patrol on that field." Leo said.

"What about us?" Cris asked.

Leo looked at her. "I'm not leaving you here. None of you. This time your coming with us. They know we are in the area and will be looking for us, and you. I'm not going to risk them finding you again."

As to encourage his point there was a commotion not far off as more troops were making their way through the woods. Leo swiftly picked me up, the Mikeys once again grabbed the kids and Raph picked up Cris then we were gone. Leo ran with a smooth stride that didn't aggravate my ribs but it still didn't help my head. Not to mention I hoped I wouldn't hurl all over him. At this point it was starting to get obvious that I wasn't the only one not to happy. "I'm getting hungry." Amy said quietly. Even she knew how serious this was, she didn't scream it out like she would have if we were in a safer environment. Usually her I'm hungrys come out in full voice, to the dismay of my ears.

Little Mikey looked down at the little girl he was carrying. "Hang on, little dudette. We'll get you something to eat soon." She just nodded and laid her head on his shoulder, patiently waiting. Again I was a little shocked, normally something like that would be answered with a sass mouth along the lines of 'I can't wait, I'm hungry now.' and some crocodile tears.

Leo skidded to a stop so fast he slid about a foot in the dead leaves, his head turning sharply to the side. Something had caught his attention. Little Leo noticed it to and slipped off to check it out, coming back just a few moments later and motioned for us to change course. Leo nodded and we were off again, this time with Usagi leading us in a new direction. I had no idea what was out there and the Leos made sure I wasn't going to either. They were avoiding all contact if they could.

Once again something I couldn't see made them stop. This time the Leos had their heads circling all around us, then they looked at each other and Little Leo pointed a finger up. Leo nodded. I was amazed on how well the could communicate without saying a word, I was not amazed on their current tactic, we went up into the large evergreen we were standing under. Don't ask me how Leo managed to climb a tree with both arms occupied but he did, and I was less than thrilled about it. I trusted him don't get me wrong, I just really didn't want to be in a tree right now. If I fell out again that wouldn't be pretty.

"Do you actually think I would let you fall?" He said so quietly in my ear I barely heard him, but I could still make out the amused tone.

"Oh, shut up." I mumbled back.

Above us I could hear Cris mumbling to herself in fear. "Can't you shut her up?" Little Raph asked.

"Back off, tiny. She's scared of heights." Raph grumbled.

"You picked a girlfriend who is scared of heights?"

"We're working on it. And who told you she's my girlfriend?"

"I figured it out. She's kinda hot."

"You keep your grubby mitts off of her."

Mikey chuckled. "We are about to have a Jerry Springer show up here."

"Dude, I love that show!" Little Mikey said.

"And that explains the intelligence level in Mikey's brain." Little Donnie spoke up

"On both of them." Donnie agreed.

The Leos looked at each other in exasperation then looked up. "Shut up!" They both hissed.

"Whoa, the tree comes with a stereo sound system. Cool." Mikey said.

"Think there might be a CD player in here somewhere?" Came from the other Mikey. Leo glared at them. Little Leo did a facepalm.

"Would you mind?" Raph asked someone. I couldn't see who he was talking to from my angle. "My hands are full."

"Not at all." Little Raph replied, then there was the sound of a well placed double smack. Then, finally, they all grew quiet. Leo's gaze shot down to the ground and few moments later a group of soldiers crossed under the tree, meeting up with another group. Then they started to talk and, from what it looked like, started to settle down for a break. Again the Leos looked at each other and I could read those expressions...now what?

Little Leo care fully picked a few large pine cones from the branches around him then stood up, perfectly balanced, on the branch he had been crouched on. The he hurled them, one by one, into the woods as far as he could. They didn't make a lot of noise as they crashed into trees and hit the ground but it was enough to get the attention of the troops under us and they moved out to investigate. As soon as the last one was gone we hit the ground and took off at a run.

The rest of the day was spent circling the field and dodging troops. Finally, as the sun was setting, we think we found what we were looking for. Well Mikey did anyway, he was trying to gather some berries he found when he just slipped from sight. The very noisy crashes and thuds told us he was falling down something steep. Then there was silence followed by an "Oooow."

Donnie walked over to where he slipped down. "You alright?" He called softly down.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Wooooa, hey guys! Come check it out!"

Donnie sighed. "I'll go. No need to drag everyone down there just because he found a squirrel that does tricks." Then he too disappeared. His decent was much more quieter. After a a few moments he called back up softly. "I think he found what we were looking for." Came his quiet call back up to us. "Come on."

One by one we made our way down. Leo holding onto me as he slid down on his shell. It was a very steep drop but he managed good enough. At the bottom was an irregular shape cave mouth set into what looked like an old stream bed. The rocks on the ground were all worn smooth.

"This does appear to be the place." Usagi said.

"Let's get inside. It's starting to get dark and the temperature will start to drop soon." He looked thoughtfully at the cave. "Maybe we can get far enough in to get a fire going without being seen." Then he smiled at the kids. "And something hot to eat."

"Yay!" Amy smiled. "I'm hungry."

"I know you are sweetie. We all are." Leo told her.

"I will go find something." Usagi said "The hunting is very good in this area."

"I'll join you." Little Leo said and together they slipped off.

The rest of us moved farther back into the cave as once again Raph stood watch at the entrance. Leo gently set me down against a large sloping rock and leaned me back on it. He stayed there next to me a moment kneeling on one knee with his arm slung over it. He took the other and reached over to push the hair out of my face. Now that we were in relative safety he let his concern show. "How are you holding up?"

"I've been better." I tried to give him a smile but I was just to tired. My chest didn't hurt so bad anymore but I still had the nauseating headache. Honestly I wasn't sure how much more I could take but I wasn't going to tell him that.

He just watched me a moment then Donnie came over. "So when were you going to tell us about your headache?" Damn that know it all turtle.

"I didn't want to bother you with it." Shit they had enough on their plate right now. I wasn't going to list all the minor aches and pains out to them.

Little Donnie had by now also made his way over and knelt next to Leo. He took his bag off of his shoulder and placed it onto the ground. "I brought some supplies with me, just in case. Wasn't sure what we were going to be getting into." He pulled some things out of the bag. "Now might be a good time to get a better look at you and get those new cuts cleaned up."

"I'll get out of your way. We need firewood anyway and some water." Leo rose to his feet and took Mikey out with him as he left.

The double Donnie team worked on me, ignoring my gripes, and by the time they had finished Leo had a fire going. As the bright cheery flame started to warm up the cave Little and Usagi came back with their hands full with some more of those birds. Usagi quickly went to work on cooking them. Not very long after I was leaning on the rock, warm and with food in my stomach. Surprisingly my headache began to die down. Leo came over and sat next to me, pulling me close. "We'll rest here a bit. After a couple hours of sleep we move out again." No one needed to tell me I was the main reason for that decision. I couldn't help but feel like a burden to them at this point. "Don't worry about it." He told me. "None of us really planned on being here in the first place, remember? Now get some sleep." I didn't argue with him, hell I was to tired. I just snuggled up against him and closed my eyes and fell asleep against his comforting form.


	50. Chapter 50

***Author's note**

**I just wanted to thank all of you that follow my story. I never really expected it to hit 50 chapters honestly but I have so much fun writing it. Your reviews and comments inspire me to keep up with this story. I will keep writing as the ideas keep coming. I just hope you all keep enjoying. Thank you everyone for your support!**

This time I walked but Leo held my hand to guide me in the near darkness, the only lights coming from the Donnies. One used his wrist display and the other a flashlight he had brought. I was still tired but the short rest we took did me some good. Kids were a bit grumpy though and they were not at all thrilled about walking around in this spooky cave. They had walked griping and complaining until Mikey and Raph just picked them up and carried them. Now the kids were sound asleep in their arms. Cris walked along next to me as we made our way through the tunnel. She seemed to be as tired as I was and she seemed to be slowing down herself. "You ok?" I asked her.

"Yeah, just tired. Not to mention stiff and sore. All my little ouchies are starting to add up into one big one."

"I think all of us would benefit from about three days in bed." Leo said, gently guiding me around a rock pile. Then looked at me. "Your getting a week."

"How come she get's spoiled and I don't."

I grinned at her. "Tell you what. How about I throw you out of a forty foot tree? You hit all the branches on the way down and then you can have a week too."

"No thanks, I'm good."

"I thought you might see it my way."

"You two are nuts." Leo chuckled.

"How much farther do you think we have to go?" Cris asked.

"Shouldn't be to much longer." Donnie said. "It's not a that big of a field and we've been walking a while now. I expect to come up on it soon."

"So what do we do with it when we find it?" Little Mikey asked.

"I have every intention of destroying it." Leo said firmly.

"Just don't do it in the cave. It's got some kind of power to it it might bring the roof down." Donnie told him.

"That's all we need, a friggin cave in. You better listen to him big boy." Little Raph grumbled.

"I usually take his advice."

"You do realize as soon as it starts moving they are going to follow it's power signature right?" Donnie pointed out.

"I'm working on it." Leo murmured to him.

Not long after we reached a larger tunnel that opened into a vast chamber. In the center sat a large crystal. Man the thing was as big as my head, pretty too. It had a rose tint to it as it glowed with it's own soft inner light. Donnie was right, there was something going on inside there. You could fell it pulse slightly and the inner light flickered with that pulse.

"It's so pretty." Amy mumbled from Raph's arms. Apparently she just woke up.

"That it is, little one." Usagi agreed.

Leo let go of my hand and walked toward it. He had just reached it when there was a sudden vibration in the ceiling, causing dust and rocks to start raining down. Then a large drillhead burst through the ceiling.

"Not good!" Mikey yelled. "They were able to get another drill out here!"

"You think!?" Raph snapped.

Leo quickly grabbed the crystal then turned and ran towards us. "GO!" He tossed the crystal to Little Donnie, who quickly stuffed it into his bag, and swept me up as he ran past me. There was even more debris falling from the chamber behind us as parts of the ceiling collapsed, blocking the entrance behind us.

"Keep going!" Leo told the others. "We have to try and stay ahead of them, if they reach the mouth of the cave ahead of us we are trapped!"

Cris couldn't keep up with the pace Leo set though she did try. With out even thinking about it Little Raph swept her up. "Come on, hotcheeks. This time you ride with me."

"Hotcheeks! You watch your mouth or I'll knock some of your teeth out!"

"Feisty, isn't she?" He said to the larger red banded turtle.

"You noticed."

"I kinda like it."

"It makes life fun, that's for sure." Raph grinned.

Now that Cris was up they went even faster, a desperate need to get out of this cave spurring them on. "Donnie! They have to know where we are now! No point in trying to hide your signal anymore. Can you track them?" Leo asked his brother.

Donnie worked on his display for a moment. "They are almost right on top of us! It's going to be close!"

Leo just growled and pushed himself even faster. Then we saw the mouth of the cave ahead of us and Leo pushed them on. Just as he was about to break through out of the cave he made a mad twist to the side and lashed out with his feet in a scissor kick. I hadn't even seen the dark clad forms hiding in wait for us. Leo lightly landed and spun a leg out once more and a third went flying away. I could see more troops moving around out there as the others came charging out behind us.

"Quickly, back up the slope!" Usagi said. "I doubt their skill is as good as yours to climb it."

"He's right." Little Leo said. "We need to go back up."

"Then lets go!" Raph led the way easily back up the slope with us right behind him.

We reached the top and Leo gently set me down. He then turned to the others. "We need to take them out here or they will dog us through the whole forest."

"Seems like a good spot." Donnie agreed. "The terrain is on our side right now."

"Watch this dudes." Little Mikey grinned and tossed a large rock back down the slope. I could here grunts, groans and crashes as it made it's way down the steep slope, taking troops with it. "I just invented a new game." He grinned. "Slope troop bowling!" Both Mikeys said together and high threed each other.

"Oooh boy. Bringing those two together was a big mistake." Little Raph said.

"Yeah, for them." Mikey grinned and launched another rock, with the same results. Even the kids were getting a kick out of it, throwing their own, much smaller, rocks and sticks down the slope. "Ha! You guys are getting your butts whooped by a pair of kids!" Mikey chirped. "You are soooo pathetic." He threw another rock down. "Uh oh." He grabbed the kids and pulled them away from the rim just as a soldier made his way up, to be greeted with Cris' hanbo to the face. He went tumbling right back down. "Glad to see you hit someone else besides me in the face." He grinned at her.

"Your face was good practice." She grinned back.

By now there were more troops making their way to the rim, but the guys had no problem handling it. Every time one made it's way up they would smack him upside the head and send him back down into his fellows. The same head never popped up twice. There coverage of the ledge was so good they let the kids continue to throw dirt, sticks and rocks. None of the troops ever had a chance to get close with Raph and Leo hovering over them like a pair of fierce, but gentle, body guards and the ones that tried ended up with broken faces. Even with the seriousness of the situation my kids were safer there than anywhere else right now. It got to the point where the soldiers just ignored them and tried other ways to get up. They knew they weren't going to get past Raph and Leo to take out my annoying little dirt launchers.

I was standing there leaning against a tree behind them and out of the way, laughing my ass off at the whole scene. Eight turtles, two kids, one woman and one rabbit was doing a lot of damage to those fellows. And they were having a blast. The Raph's had started a contest on who could kick the most faces in. Cris was shouting "Fore!" every time she got a good smack in, holding her hanbo like a golf club. The kids were throwing whatever they could get their hands on, the Donnies used their staffs to smack them on the top of the head. The Mikey's were still going bowling. Usagi and Little Leo were popping in where ever they were needed. Leo stayed next to the kids and kicked the crap out of anyone that was stupid enough to come near. I just shook my head, this time those soldiers didn't stand a chance.

"Keep it up guys." Leo said. "Not that ma-" His head snapping up was the only warning I had and it wasn't enough. A hand came around from behind me covering my mouth and I was dragged off into the woods. "Try to fight back and I'll slit your throat." Came Mikey's deeper voice from behind me as a small blade was held next to my throat. I remained absolutely still as he dragged me further from my family.

A short time later he entered a clearing and there stood his brothers. "Well it looks like you can do something right after all." Dark Leo said.

"Please, those idiots were distracted. Grabbing her was almost to easy. I got her without them even knowing." Keep thinking that, you moron. You got busted, you just didn't know it yet.

"Bring her, we'll take her with us and set up a trade for the crystal. We can't count on those worthless troops."

"Your actually going to give her back?" Dark Raph asked stunned.

"Of course not, you idiot. Not alive anyway. But they don't know that."

Again Dark Mikey began to drag me, following his brothers as they left the clearing. As we reached the edge of the clearing a foot came lashing out from under a bush beside me and smoothly knocked my captors feet out from under him as a hand snapped out from the other side to grab the arm with the knife to pull it away. Off balance now I also started to fall until a third form caught me from behind.

I looked up to see Leo holding onto Dark Mikey's arm and his eyes filled with blue fire. He then turned and with incredible force threw the dark turtle at his still unsuspecting brothers. He crashed into them, hard, from behind sending them all rolling in the dirt. They looked back at us in stunned amazement.

Mikey emerged from the bush he was hiding behind and Donnie passed me by on my other side to stand next to Leo. Raph set me back on my feet then gently pushed me behind him and also stepped forward. "This ends now." Leo said in a low tone as he drew his katanas. "That will be the last time any of you lay a hand on her or any other member of my family."

Raph spun his sais and set himself. "It's time for some payback. And I think taking it out of your hide should cover the bill."

"Bring it punks." Mikey added.

The stand off lasted for a few moments. You could feel the hatred in the air between these two groups of turtles but neither group made a move, though they were all standing in the ready position. "Buncha chicken shits." Mikey popped off suddenly.

That got them moving, with hate in their eyes the Dark Turtles charged as one. And when they got close enough the guys moved as one, defecting the blows then grabbing their counterpart's arms and launched them back over my ducking form and into the clearing. Not even synchronized swimming was that precise, they were so perfectly in tune the dark turtles all hit the ground at the same time.

They guys were on them in a flash. Dark Mikey lashed out with his arm with a punch and Mikey blocked it and swung it wide, then blocked the other arm as it to tried to land a blow. He brought his first arm in and landed a punch himself and Dark Mikey fell back. He however brought a leg out and knocked Mike's out from under him. Mikey went with the fall and landed on his back then brought his legs up and brought them around in a quick scissor movement, hitting Dark Mikey in the side as he moved in, then used the momentum from that movement to launch himself back onto his feet, perfectly balanced, then spun and landed another kick, then brought the other leg up as the first came down and hit him again. Mikey landed in a graceful pose close to the ground, Dark Mikey landed on his back a few feet away. "Dude, you have no idea what you are messing with tonight."

Dark Mikey growled as he got back up. "Big talk for a little brain." He charged in and tackled Mikey and they rolled off further into the clearing.

Donnie was trading staff blows with his twin. Their staffs coming together so fast the noise they made when they hit made one continues sound, their movements a blur. Dark Donnie brought his staff down towards Donnie's head and it was blocked by Donnie raising his up in both arms. He sidestepped the predictable kick that came in for him and rolled inside the reach of the leg then swiftly brought his staff in and down, knocking the other leg out from under Dark Donnie. Donnie couldn't evade the other staff at this point as it came flying into his side as his opponent went down. They both hit the ground together and rolled back to their feet. They eyed each other for a second and came back together once again, the staffs connecting in between them.

Raph ducked a swing and then leaned out of the way of another, his hands flashing up and catching the wrist. Dark Raph brought his free hand around and brought a sai in towards Raph's side. Raph spun out of the way, still holding on, and twisted the arm that he held then pulled the other large turtle around and slammed him into a tree so hard the top branches shook. I couldn't help but feel a lot of satisfaction at that move. Teach him to slam me into a tree, payback was a bitch. Dark Raph bounced back and Raph kicked out and slammed him into it again. This time Dark Raph rolled to the side as the foot came in again and caught it, then he twisted it forcing Raph to spin with it or risk his ankle being broken. He brought his free leg up and his foot connected with the dark clad turtle's face and he lost his grip on Raph's foot. They too both hit the ground and rolled away from each other only to come back up and close in on each other once again.

The fight that had the most intensity was the one that was closest to me. Katanas flashed in the moonlight so fast it seemed like lighting in a brewing storm of hatred, the constant ring of the metal was the thunder. This storm had been brewing in Leo for days now, ever since that night Dark Leo and I were swept away in Stockman's portal and each new injury, offense and action he and his dark brothers did under his command fueled that pent up storm. Now, finally, it had been unleashed. This was going to play out tonight between these two. There was no more holding back, one of them wasn't going to leave here in one piece. These two turtles who were so very much alike but yet so very different were bound together by hate, a hate that fueled their strikes as they lashed out at one another with the intent to kill. I could only watch, stunned, at the ferocity of their encounter.

Dark Leo brought his blade in and Leo promptly picked it off with his own, then brought his other blade in and Dark Leo brought his own twin bade in for a block. "Keep trying fool." Dark Leo taunted him. Leo wasn't taking the bait however.

"I will." Leo replied. They both twisted their blades away and brought them in again at different angles and again they blocked each other's strikes.

Then Dark Leo feinted with his blades making Leo bring his up high and Dark Leo quickly changed course in mid swing and brought them low instead. Leo back flipped away from the strike landed in a handstand, still grasping his swords, and continued the flip as he pushed himself off of he ground back into the air and came down swinging his katanas out close together in a circular pattern knocking his opponents blades away in a quick double slap and followed up with a foot.

Dark Leo rolled away from the hit and brought his own blade up to block Leo's swing as Leo followed his roll. Then he held Leo's blades with his and managed to get a leg sweep in on Leo knocking his legs out from under him, twisting one of Leo's swords out of his hand as he fell. Leo laid on the ground, still managing to fend off both of the blades with his single one. He fought desperately to try and get back onto his feet but the balance of the fight had shifted, he was pinned.

"Your out here alone. Let's see you block this one." He gave an evil grin at the pinned Leo and flipped a katana in the air, then his hand moving so fast I couldn't keep up he pulled out something from his belt, and threw it at me.

"NO!" Leo screamed as he took in what was thrown, his eyes following the kunai as it made it's way to me.

Another katana swept in from the side of me and picked it off. Dark Leo's eyes widened as he took in the form next to me and Leo took that pause to break away. Little Leo stalked in past me, stopped to pick up Leo's dropped sword, and kept moving in. He stopped a short distance away eyeing the larger dark turtle. "No, he is not alone." He tossed Leo his katana then moved in on Dark Leo. "You have a lot to answer for."

Leo also moved back in, his eyes flashing at the newest attempt. "All the pain and suffering you have caused her, tonight you will regret it." And again the blades flashed in the night air, this time a twin set moved in from the other side.

I looked around the clearing, Little Leo didn't come alone. His brothers, also sickened by these large mockeries of their friends, had come to join the fight. Had come to attempt to end this threat once and for all. The clearing once again exploded into action. There were no jokes this time, no wisecracks coming across the clearing, not a single pun or oneliner was uttered. The intensity of the fight drew away any sense of humor. The air was filled only with the clashing of weapons, fists and feet.

Dark Donnie was the first to fall. Donnie blocked his staff up high and Little Donnie swung his in and knocked it out of his hands. Then they both spun inside of his reach and, fueled by their hard momentum as they spun, landed powerful jabs into his sides with the ends of their bo staffs. He cried out in pain and his arms raised up to hold his crushed ribs, he didn't see the massive swing that was coming for his head as Donnie brought his staff back around again. The screams suddenly died off as he connected.

Mikey dodged a kick that was aimed for him and brought his chucks around to block the swing of Dark Mikey's own weapon. He let the two chucks get entangled and pulled hard as Little Mikey brought his own down on the same arm. With a cry of pain Dark Mikey lost his grip on the weapon and Mikey pulled it from him. Then he brought a leg around and brought it up high but it was blocked by Dark Mikey's arm. Then Little Mikey also brought a leg up and aimed for the blocking arm, the snap it made was heard through out the clearing when it broke. Then they both spun again and nailed him with perfectly timed kicks to each side of his head. He too fell quiet to the ground.

The Raphs were having a harder time with the largest dark turtle. He was fueled by rage, but then, so were his attackers. The other two however have learned to control theirs where the dark one never did. He lashed out with powerful rage fueled blows that the other two easily answered with blocks or attacks of their own. But the big, evil turtle could take a lot of punishment. He swung out a kick at Little Raph, who caught it in the same way Raph's had been caught earlier. This time how ever when Dark Raph tried to do the same spin maneuver Raph did to get out of it, the larger good turtle brought his own leg up for a rage fueled kick. The angle where he hit the dark turtle again made the air fill with the sound of a snap as the leg broke that was still being held, then he dropped to the ground. With out even pausing the two Raph's picked him up and again slammed him into a tree, front first. Again another crack rang out as Dark Raph's plastron finally gave in under the force of the blow. He did not get back up.

Blades flashed still in the night. If Dark Leo had noticed his brothers fall he gave no indication of it. He fought on against two katana wielders with quiet rage in their eyes. Blue and brown eyes flashed with fury and hate, but their movements were calm, swift and steady. This duo was more than ready to end this fight, they just needed an opening. Working together their blades moved around one another's in a fluid motion. Not once did one get in the way of the other as they continued to lash out at the dark leader. No matter how hard he tried Dark Leo could not keep them back, they just worked to well together, cut after cut rained down on him. Leo got him on the shoulder and Little Leo got in a slice on the leg. Still, the stubborn turtle refused to give in, he brought his sword in for another attack and Little Leo blocked it high. Leo's blade was already coming in from below for the same arm and it barely paused as it went cleanly through the wrist. Dark Leo's left hand, and the sword still in it, fell to the ground as he screamed in pain and rage. He dropped his other sword and Leo came in with the hilt and struck him a hard blow into the temple. The field was now deathly quiet.

Leo finally turned from the form on the ground and walked over to me as the others also made their way over. I could see the question in his eyes before he even got to me. "I'm fine, Leo. They didn't have time to do anything." He took me into his arms a moment, making sure to keep his bloodstained katanas well away from me.

He broke the hold as Little Donnie handed him a piece of cloth, then handed one to Little Leo. "Here. You can use this to wipe the blades down to clean them off." Both Leo's did so then discarded the rags before sheathing their weapons.

"Come on. Let's go gather up the others and get out of here." Leo said softly. He glanced once around the clearing at the still forms in contempt then turned his back on them, leaving them to their fate, whatever it might be.


	51. Chapter 51

Leo held my hand as we walked quietly back to the others. The whole feel was more like a funeral procession than any kind of victory. I don't know exactly what I was expecting after a fight like that, certainly not balloons and streamers but they all seemed almost, ashamed even maybe scared of themselves and what they did.

There was a difference between just knocking someone out and literally beating the shit out of them. As far as I can tell they had never taken a fight to this extreme, except for maybe the Shredder fights. And also as far as I could tell they never had to do this, technically, to themselves. I had no idea what it would feel like having to beat the snot out of someone that was you, just from another world. Only they could answer that and right now I had a feeling they weren't handling it well. The best I could compare it to was, imagine giving your twin a serious beat down.

Not one of them spoke, no banter, no jokes. Finally I just stopped. Leo felt it and stopped himself then turned to look at me. "All of you listen to me." Now I had all of their attention as they halted to hear what I had to say. Now the problems was, how do I say it? I found a large rock and I sat down on it, lord I was so tired, and leaned forward to put my elbows on my knees.

Then I spoke as I watched the slight breeze move the dead leaves on the ground between my feet. "None of you are monsters. None of you are turning into some kind of evil beings. Yes, you did something that I wished to god you never would have had to do. You literally beat them to within an inch of their life."

I brought my head back up and looked around at the grim faces around me. "Honestly, what choice did they leave you? They have been warned. Again and again you have beat them and yet they still came back. I know this is probably bothering you, all of you, that you had to do this to your own kind, your own doubles. I would feel the same way if I had to do it to another human. But god damn it, I would still do it if it meant it was the only way to protect the ones I love. Your not the monsters, you did what you had to do to stop the monsters. You did what you had to do. At least you still had the humanity and mercy left in you to let them live. I'm not sure if I would have after the things he..." I choked off, dropping my head back down so they wouldn't see the tears.

Then Leo was there, kneeling in front of me and he pulled me against him in a tight hug. He wasn't the only one but he was the first. Suddenly I was surrounded by turtles as they all moved in on me, each getting as close as they could to wrap an arm around me or to just place a hand on my shoulder. At that moment I think we shifted from two separate family units to one. I felt close to all of them suddenly, not just my big guys. Leo even moved out of the way so Little Mikey could take me into his arms for a moment. "It's all good, Sis." He told me quietly. It was the first words any of them had spoken. "It will be awhile before they bother you again, if they ever do."

"Lord knows we tried hard enough to get the point across." Little Raph added.

Little Mikey helped me back onto my feet and Little Donnie handed me a cloth to wipe my eyes with. "I for one will try just as hard to get it across again if need be."

The larger turtles just watched their smaller counterparts quietly, their eyes unreadable. Little Leo also watched his brothers as they were fussing over me, then turned to the larger turtles. "I think something happened here tonight that shifted in us." He said quietly as he met Leo's eyes. "I, and my brothers I believe, no longer see you as just doubles from a different world. We have seen that 'just a double' can also mean the total opposite of what we believe. It would be a honor to have you call us brothers, it fits better for some reason."

Leo's eyes widened a little and he looked at his own brothers, three nods and grins was his reply. Leo reached out his hand and placed it on Little Leo's shoulder. "Brothers it is."

"Cool! I got little brothers!" Mikey grinned to the groan of the others.

"Well now, isn't this touching." Came another voice.

Leo didn't even flinch, neither of them. I somehow knew that they had known he was there. "I was wondering when you would show up, Bishop." Leo said as he turned. Bishop stood there with his own set of troops with him.

Little Mikey and Little Raph stayed close by my side. They had no idea who he was but they immediately knew he was trouble.

"I'll take that crystal now, Leonardo." He met Leo's gaze. "You really don't have the option of telling me no. I'll wipe out your family if you don't."

Leo returned his gaze calmly after he took in the amount of troops standing there. He held out his hand to Little Donnie and the smaller turtle reached into his bag, retrieved the crystal and handed it to him. "Fine, you want it, Bishop?" He quickly spun and slammed it into the rock I had been sitting on, it cracked as it hit and immediately it began to darken and you could feel something rapidly build in it. It didn't shatter but bounced back up and Leo quickly kicked it towards Bishop. "Here! Then take it!" Then he turned and once again I was grabbed and hoisted up as he ran, the others following quickly. For the second time in less than two days an explosion rang out into the woods and another shock wave hit.

"I'm getting real tired of getting caught up in explosions." Raph muttered as we got back up.

"I know. They make my brain rattle." Mikey said.

"Your brain always rattles."

Leo helped me up. "You ok?" He glanced worriedly at my chest. He tried to cushion the fall as best he could but I was still gasping in pain.

"I honestly don't know, Leo." I told him.

"Come on. It's beyond time to get you out of here." Again he scooped me up and we made our way through the woods at a run again.

A few minutes later we met up with the others. "What in the hell was that?" Cris asked as we approached.

"Leo blew up the crystal." Raph told her.

"Well, jeez, Leo are you going to leave any forest left before we go? Or are you planning to knock it all down?"

"Oh I dunno, a couple of new clearings might be a good thing. Gets rid of all the dead stuff to make room for new trees." He grinned at her. "Come on, let get out of this area. That was Bishop and I'm almost certain he's still wandering around out there."

"That man has more lives than a hundred cats put together." Mikey said as we moved out again at a run.

"I wish we could take that portal of his out." Leo sighed.

"Why, we already know he has more than one. That wasn't the greenhouse base we were swept into remember?" Donnie said.

"I know. But still, I hate the thought of him being here."

"I imagine he will leave anyway. You just made the thing he wanted from this world blow up in his face. He really has no reason to stay anymore. And Bishop never does anything without a reason."

"Do not worry about this Bishop, Leonardo." Usagi said. "I will take care of him if he persists. We may be more primitive here than on your world, that does not mean I can't gather the forces to push him away. You have done enough, it is time for you to go home."

"Amen to that." Raph said. "No offense, I like you little rabbit, but I really want to get out of here."

"None taken Raphael." He smiled.

"Come on. Let's find a clearing and see if we can't work on that." Little Donnie said. I was so glad to hear those words. "Going to have to take you to our place first though."

"That's fine." Leo smiled.

A little while later we found a nice spot and Little Donnie pulled out his domahicky as the rest of us said our, very lengthy, good byes to Usagi. I was actually in tears as the tall rabbit took me into his arms. "Do not cry." He told me. "I am sure we will meet again one day."

Donnie had a thoughtful expression on his face, then he pulled out his tracker and swiped a small screw driver out of Little Donnie's bag. He then played around with the little device for a moment then put it back together. "Here." He said handing it to Usagi. "If you ever need us, press this button. I modified it a bit to where it can each me. Mikey's intermentional tracker comment the other day had given me the idea, figured you could get the first prototype. The signal will be weak, but I'll catch it."

Usagi took the small device. "Thank you, Donatello."

"Hey, your a part of the family too now. We all stick together."

Little Donnie fired up the machine and a small portal popped up. Leo turned to the rabbit and took his hand. "Good bye, my friend."

"Good bye is so final. I prefer, until we meet again, my friend." Usagi smiled. By now the others had went through. Leo took my hand and we followed them. As we stepped through I looked over my shoulder one more time but Usagi was already gone, disappeared into the forest.

Even though I would miss Usagi, I still felt a sense of relief as the portal closed behind us. We weren't home yet but this was the next best thing. I looked around in the large abandoned subway station they called home. Finally taking in the fact we were all safe. Once that thought hit I collapsed. Leo's arms wrapped around me as I fell and on the other side I could feel another set also supporting me. "Donnie!" I heard Little Leo's voice come from that side.

Two heads swiveled our way at the call. "Bring her this way." Little Donnie said and led the way to their infirmary. His setup was a bit different than back at the lair, but then he had a lot more room to work with. Gently the Leos put me on the bed and both Donnies took over from there.

"What's wrong with her?" Mikey asked, he had followed us.

"She just reached past her limit. She's hurting and exhausted." Little Donnie said. "I'm surprised she held on as long as she did."

"She's a stubborn one." Donnie said and began checking me over from head to toe, looking for new injuries that may have been missed and looking over the older ones that were still in the process of healing. Leo stood quietly out of the way and watched us as Little Leo ushered Mikey away. "She's torn some of the stitches open in her leg." Donnie said quietly. "Everything else seems to fine besides some more bruises. Just those damn ribs, they have to be hurting."

"I'll get what we need." Said the smaller one.

I just laid there, to tired to even talk. Little Donnie was right, my ribs did hurt but it was to the point I was used to the pain. I was starting to forget what no pain felt like.

Little Donnie came back with some blankets and the supplies he needed. Leo took the blankets from him and gently covered me up as Little Donnie took a needle and shot something into my arm. "This will help you sleep, Sis. You need rest right now more than anything. We'll fix you up while your sleeping." There it was again, that 'Sis'. I smiled at that as Leo took my hand. My family just seemed to be getting bigger and bigger. For someone who had spent their life keeping folks away it was a strange feeling to have such a large family, but I was glad to have them in it.


	52. Chapter 52

Things settled down the next couple of days. I really had no idea of what was going on because I stayed put in bed. I do know my brother had called the school to explain the kids' absence. Apparently we had an out of town emergency we had to go to. Well it wasn't quite a lie if you think about it. We _did_ go out of town and it _was_ an emergency. He also told me Mom flipped out at our sudden disappearance until Dad told her to knock it off. He understands them a lot better than Mom does I think and he knew they would do their best to keep us safe. But he is also realistic enough to know, shit happens. Being a service man himself, he's been in some bad spots before in his life. He could handle it. He didn't like our sudden disappearance but he handled it.

I remember waking up to find him and Leo in my room having the what happened discussion. Leo was having a hard time explaining to him why I was hurt, again. Dad had looked up into Leo's face and said "Boy, you may do things differently than I did and you have to deal with things I really don't understand. Extra turtles, alien kidnapped crazy special agent, this silly portal roller coaster hopping thing and all that other weird shit. Sure they got banged up a little, but you brought them back home." He paused to lay a hand on Leo's shoulder. "I'm a soldier and so is Vicky. We have both seen and been through some shit. We both fully understand that things happen you can't change sometimes. It's how you handle them that defines who you are. You were able to bring her and my grandchildren back alive and relatively well, considering she wasn't in the best shape to begin with. Son, you did good. Don't let that crazy lady I married ever tell you otherwise." Then he noticed I was awake. "Didn't you learn your lesson from last time? I told you to stay away from those damn crazy trees, they'll gitcha in a heartbeat, whack ya when you ain't lookin."

"Oh? I thought it was the crazy old men I had to watch out for."

"Why? You know one?" He grinned at me. "I gotta go feed that pain in the ass Cris calls a horse. She's still sleeping so I'll deal with his dumbass again today. Heck he's starting to grow on me I think. He only tried to bite me twice yesterday." He turned back to Leo and gave him a quick pat on the shoulder then removed his hand. "You did good, Boy." He said again then left. I just shook my head, Dad was a nut.

Leo had a somewhat befuddled look on his face. "I was expecting to get yelled at again." He mumbled.

I Laughed. "Wrong parent. It's Mom you need the ear plugs for."

This time we didn't really say goodbye to the other turtles. What had happened in the woods changed that relationship. Though Donnie didn't leave a portal open for them like he did me, he didn't have the energy supply to do so, he still kept into constant touch with Little Donnie and every few days it would pop open and they would come through for a few hours.

I was healed up enough to move around again by the time Valentine's day rolled around. The bruises had faded away by now, except for a couple of large ones and they were almost gone. Still had to be careful though if I moved wrong my ribs would let me know. I was in the lair gasping for air after one of those wrong moves after I tried to pick up one of the toys my son had left out. As Leo helped me straighten back up Mikey came hauling ass toward us, then swiftly just flipped over us then kept running. "I'm not here!" He told us as he kept running.

Leo and I exchanged dumbfounded looks. What the hell was going on now? We got our answer a few moments later when Raph came charging out of the direction of the hallway that lead to the bedrooms. I couldn't help but notice he was wrapping his loincloth around him as he ran. "Where is that little fucker! I'm gonna kill him! MIKEEEY!"

I got a feeling I think I knew what happened. I looked at Leo. "You don't think he...?"

"Barged into Raph's room and saw something he shouldn't have? Yes that's exactly what I'm thinking." He tuned me loose and went charging after his brothers.

Cris came out of Raph's room wide eyed and trying to pull her shirt on. "Where is that idiot! I'm gonna kill him!" Then she took off running after the others when she heard the commotion that started in the dojo. I followed everyone and peeked in.

Leo was desperately trying to keep himself between Mikey and Raph as the larger turtle kept trying to reach around him to grab Mikey. He had his hands full with that already when Cris came in and kept trying to hit Mikey with her handbo. So here was poor Leo trying to hold back a pissed Raph and a swinging Cris when Donnie finally entered the dojo to see what the noise was all about. Leo looked at him with wide eyes. "Donnie! A little help please!" Donnie sighed as he moved in to help his older brother. I did my best to not laugh, and failed miserably.

Later that evening, after the rampage had been calmed down, Leo took me out for some 'us' time. Well it _was_ Valentine's day after all. We went to a near by park since it really wasn't that cold out. It wasn't exactly warm either but the bitter cold of winter was starting to fade into the chill of early spring. Other than that it was a pretty night, crisp, but clear as the stars filled the dark sky. We walked along the darkened park with him holding me close, until we came to a spot that was set on a hill. Before me opened up a nighttime view of the skyline of the city with the star painted sky surrounding it. It was beautiful. I just leaned in against his chest and he wrapped his arms around me as I took in the sight.

How long we stayed that way I couldn't tell you, I was mesmerized at the view. I was used to quiet country life beauty and never expected really to see something like this in a large city. "This is a wonderful spot." I finally said to him.

"That it is. I used to come here a lot right after we left you last summer. With out you in my life I needed something wonderful to look at. This was the best I could find."

"So after Donnie made that portal you never made it back here?"

"Didn't have a reason to. Until tonight."

I looked at him and smiled. "Well then I guess I should thank you for letting me be that reason."

"Your more than welcome." He bought his head down and caught me in a gentle kiss. I brought a hand up and placed it behind his neck, pulling him even closer to me as we deepened the kiss. His arms tightened around me holding me close to him and I felt a hand glide down my side and he rested it on my hip for a moment, then brought it back up under my clothes. I could feel his soft touch as he slowly moved his hand back up my side against my skin. I couldn't help a shiver at the soft touch and I kissed him harder.

Suddenly his head snapped back and his posture changed as he looked over my head into the small wooded area behind me. His hold on me went from arousal to protective in that instant as he brought his hand back out but he still held me close. His eyes scanned the woods, searching, then fixed on a certain spot. My blood ran cold as I heard a growl come from those woods. "What is it?" I whispered.

"I don't know. I can't make it out." He murmured.

We stood there, not moving, with his gaze firmly locked onto the spot our unseen watcher was lurking. I could fell that he was tense, he was ready to strike out if what ever it was came out for us. I was debating to move out the way at that moment and decided that might not be a bad idea. His grip tightened however, forcing me to stay put. "Don't move." He said very quietly not taking his eyes away from the woods. Again there was a growl and then the soft sounds of something moving away.

I felt the tension leave Leo's body, but his eyes still were locked on that spot behind me. Finally he looked back down at me. "I think it's time to go."

"Might not be a bad idea." He took my hand and led me back out of the park. We were almost out when he stopped and again pulled me close as his eyes swept around us. For the third time I heard that growl and Leo's gaze was locked into that direction.

Again the sound retreated and Leo didn't hesitate to get us out of there. Moving quickly now he picked me up and sprinted for the nearest manhole cover which was right outside the park entrance. Swiftly he opened it and dropped in with me. He had just put the cover back when we heard a loud thump land on top of it. We stayed put, not making a sound, and again whatever it was moved away.

Leo took my hand and guided me back to the lair. We had no idea what was that was out there and Leo had no intention of staying around to find out.


	53. Chapter 53

We moved along the pitch black sewers. I couldn't see a damn thing but Leo moved confidently. He grew up in these tunnels and had no problem navigating them. He moved as quickly as he could, holding me close to him to keep me from stumbling. I think he really wanted to carry me but he might need his arms free. "Are we almost there?" I finally asked him quietly.

"Not for awhile yet" He replied. He stopped suddenly and snatched me up, placing me into a smaller tunnel that was behind him up in the wall. Then I heard the hiss of metal as his katanas came out. I couldn't see a damn thing and that was frightening for me, knowing there was something there but not being able to see what.

There was only just a little bit of light coming from a small storm drain above us and it was nowhere near enough to light the tunnel for me. I could tell something was going on though, I could hear it. I had no idea who he was fighting, or even if he was winning. The noises continued for a few moments then I heard the sound of a heavy blow connecting and something smash into the wall under me. The groan that came up to my ears told me it was Leo.

Something moved in the little bit of light and all I could see was a large scaly clawed hand, and it was about to come down. Without thinking I threw myself down over Leo as the hand came down. Then there was a gasp of shock from over me. "No..." I seamed to hear from a gravely voice, right before the claws ripped into the side of my neck.

Blood, my own blood, began to stream from under the hand I put there. Suddenly I felt Leo's hand over mine. "NO! No, no, no..."

"This is not what I wanted." Said that same gravely voice. "Not what..." Then the voice was gone.

.

.

God she was beautiful. So full of fire, so full of passion. Now I understood what Leo felt with Vicky. Now I could feel for myself what he felt for her. It took me a while to let her in, even after that night when Leo was seriously hurt. Even though I knew I wanted her since that first time I saw her, I couldn't just let her in. I knew I had issues, my temper being the main concern, but she didn't seem to mind. Hell I think she goaded me on just to piss me off, like she wanted to see me angry. Lord knows I did the same thing to her, she was stunning when she was pissed. Her hazel eyes flashing, chest heaving with angry breaths, god...

Now here she was, laying under me covered in sweat with me over her on trembling, spent arms. I was still amazed that we had come this far from that first kiss. A kiss I still couldn't believe had happened. I don't know what I was thinking that day, honestly I don't think I was. Cris had stood in front of me blocking that wave of grief and rage like a unmovable mountain. She wasn't afraid of me, hell Casey wouldn't even come near me that night. She just stood there, waiting. It was then I knew I needed something from her, something no one else could give me and she seemed ready to give it.

Looking down into her eyes now I realized that she had patiently burrowed her way into my soul since then. Made her way through my hard exterior and into the softness of my heart. Here I, big tough knock your damn teeth out Raphael, was at the mercy of this hazel eyed, light brown haired woman. And I didn't give a shit.

I lowered myself next to her naked form as she still recovered from her release, chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. She was so soft, so smooth, but she had a strength that her, to me, frail form hid. She had pushed just as hard against me as I thrust into her, wanting more from me even though I was scared to give it. Yes indeed, she was my little firecracker.

We didn't say anything afterward, both of us trying to come to terms with this next step we just took, this time without any Mikey walk ins. I pulled her close to me and this felt so...right. Vicky had been right back on the farm house steps that night. She had been out there, I just had to find her and I did.

Then as if the thought of Vicky somehow summoned the other couple back I heard Leo come back into the lair. "Someone please help me!" Came his frantic voice. I shot out of the bed and so did Cris. Quickly I made myself presentable and went up front to see Leo carrying her back in and her neck covered in blood. Donnie shot by me as he came out of his room, by the time he got to them there was already a puddle of blood on the floor under her.

"She's bleeding out!" Donnie drug Leo towards the lab since he wouldn't let her go. I followed them and Mikey wasn't far behind. Cris stayed back to keep an eye on the kids who were sleeping in our little brother's room.

Leo put her down on the bed and Donnie frantically began to work on her, trying to close the gash in her neck. It didn't help that Leo was in the way. I went over to him and pulled him back, if he decided to take a swing at someone I was the best one suited for it. He didn't though, he just watched as Donnie worked.

"She's lost a lot of blood, to much. Mikey! Get over here!"

"I'm right here bro." He said from where he was standing next to Donnie.

Donnie pulled out the bed extension. "Lay down."

"What? Why?"

"Because she needs blood you idiot! And your the closest I got to her blood type!"

Oh shit. Mikey just stared at him in shock for a moment, then laid down next to her. I had to ask. "Donnie, are you sure that's safe? I mean we aren't even the same species."

He glared at me a moment. "Raph it's the best I can do. I don't have time! IV fluids won't cut it this time, I need to get blood back into her. And I don't have any in stock."

Leo and I watched quietly as he hooked them both up and Mikey's blood ran from him to her. None of us dared interrupt him again. All we could do was hope he knew what the hell he was doing.

.

.

I opened my eyes and blinked a few times. Once they cleared I looked up into three faces and they broke into smiles as I met their gazes. What happened now? Last thing I remember was sitting next to Leo in the sewer...SHIT! I brought my hand to my neck and found it patched up. I tried to sit up and I got a little dizzy for a moment but it quickly passed. Donnie helped me sit up. "I'm getting real tired of ending up in here."

"I'm getting tired of having you here." Donnie replied. Why did he seem nervous though? "You feel alright?"

"I feel fine actually. Almost like nothing happened." I caught them exchange quick glances. "Ok, spit it out. What's wrong."

"Well, nothing is actually wrong..." Donnie said.

"Spill it Donnie."

Raph let out a chuckle. "Well, let's put it his way. If you start feeling stupid it's his fault." And he pointed to the bed next to where I was laying. Mikey was passed out on it.

"What happened to him?"

"You did." Leo said softly.

"Will one of you please tell me what happened!" I finally snapped.

"That thing sliced your artery open. By the time Leo got you back here you had bled out pretty bad. I had to vampire blood out of Mikey and drain it into you." Donnie finally confessed.

"You what..." Could they even do that? "Are you telling me, I have mutated turtle blood running in me now?"

"Yup. That's exactly what I'm telling you."

"I'm not going to turn green or grow a shell am I?"

"I don't think so."

"_Think?!_" I exploded. I took a deep breath to calm myself, he did save my life after all. Again.

"I'm sorry. I've never had to do that before. Well, not a full blood transplant anyway. I'm honestly not sure what to expect but I wasn't going to let you die either."

"Are our blood types even compatible?"

"Well, yes and no. Leo, Raph and I can't give you blood, but Mikey can. His is most akin to yours and the mutagen balances out any...side effects if you will."

"This is making my head hurt..."

"You want an asprin?"

"No I don't want an asprin!" I snapped.

"You know, I really don't think it will hurt you. It was meant to heal after all."

I sighed. "Alright Donnie. I understand why you did it and I thank you. It's just a little hard to take in."

"I still want to keep an eye on you though...just in case."

"Well I'm not going to argue with that."

Suddenly there was movement on the bed next to me as Mikey slowly woke up. Donnie walked around the bed to his side. "Hey bro," Mikey said after he was fully awake, some what. "did it work?"

I leaned over to him so he could see me. "Yes it worked. But I'm warning you now, if I get this sudden urge to pull pranks and eat pizza nonstop I'm coming after you with a big stick." He grinned as the others laughed. Donnie helped him sit up and I gave him a hug. "Thank you Mikey."

"Anytime."

"Now, anyone want to tell me what it was that caused all this?" I asked them.

"No, fucking clue." Raph said.

"I didn't get a good look at it." Leo said, frustrated. He looked at his brothers. "No one goes into the sewers. Especially alone."

"Leo, come on-" Raph started.

"I mean it, Raph. That thing was no joke. If we leave, we leave all together." He looked at the larger turtle. "Please brother, just this once, please humor me on this. I don't like confining you here either, I've grown to trust your single outings over the years and want to keep giving you that freedom. It took me years to understand that you need your space but I do understand. Let us figure out what is going on and deal with it, then you can have your freedom back. I promise."

Raph looked at him, I could tell he was a bubbling steampot right now, then it seemed someone turned on the cold water as he closed his eyes and sighed. "Alright Leo."

Mikey chuckled. "It's not like your going to get bored anymore down here with Cris around. Seems like you two found something fun to do."

"Why you little..." I rolled out of the way as Raph lunged over my side of the bed to get to Mikey. Mikey rolled off of the other end as Raph was starting to climb over. Once again Leo and Donnie found them trying to hold the bigger turtle back.

"Mikey one of these days I'm going to sew your mouth shut!" Donnie said as he was straining against Raph.

What ever Mikey was going to reply with was cut off by two sounds. One being the perimeter alarm and the other a roar that echoed through the tunnels outside of the lair. They all froze at the sound then exploded into motion. Somehow the damn thing found the lair...


	54. Chapter 54

We all shot out of the lab, they to deal with the intruder and I went to go find my kids. We made it out into the living area when the thing exploded into the lair. All I could tell you at first glance was that the thing was huge, taller than Raph who was the first one to engage it, and his overall mass was larger than even the biggest turtle. "Fuckhead, you made a big mistake coming into our home!" He growled as he took on the charging form, only to be buried under it.

It was then I had a chance to get a good look at it as Leo and Donnie moved in on the thing. I took in the long snapping jaws that went after Leo and the long tail that easily knocked Donnie away. Mikey came in in a sumersault and landed on the things ridged back and ran up to it's head. He wrapped his arms around the beast's neck and held on for dear life as the thing started bucking underneath him. That gave Raph the time to get his feet under it and give it a mighty heave, sending it falling backwards as Mikey released his hold to get clear.

Depending on which version of the turtles you watch, or read, he was either an alligator or a crocodile. Also depending on which version you follow he could be either good or bad, but in all of them he was unstable to some degree. I had no idea which one I was looking at as it finally clicked that they were dealing with Leatherhead. Holy mother of shit that thing was huge...

"What the fuck is going-! HOLY SHIT!" Cris had finally made her entrance, coming out of Mikey's room.

Then I saw two little heads pop around the doorframe. "Leatherhead!" They both exclaimed, with glee go figure. They loved Leatherhead, I just wasn't sure if this one was lovable.

"Leatherhead?" Mikey asked panting on the floor not far from me, he still wasn't really over what had just happened earlier and he just met the tail himself. "You know him too? So is he a good guy or a bad guy?"

"He has the potential to be both." I told him, honestly I couldn't say because I had no idea how this one came to be.

"Well isn't that the perfect answer." He griped as Donnie came flying into him. They both got up and charged right back in.

This time it was Raph that came flying toward me and I just barely managed to get out of the way. He hit the wall hard enough to crack it and was stunned a moment. "Vicky! Get out of the way!" I heard Donnie scream and I turned back to see the large form head my way, going after Raph and I was between them. Leo tried to come in from the side and was knocked away like a simple rag doll, then he was in front of me and I looked up, at least eight feet up though he could be taller since he was hunched over a little, into the face of the thing. Then he stopped, looking down at me. He tried to get around me to again go after Raph and I side stepped to block him. Again he stopped.

"Vicky!" This time it was Leo. "MOVE!" He charged in and Leatherhead casually backhanded him back out again.

"Well that didn't work..." Mikey said.

"Shut up, Mikey." The other two said but they all held back.

Raph started to move behind me again and then I heard Cris. "Don't move."

"I'm gonna beat the shit-"

"I said don't fucking move!" She snapped at him this time.

Then they all shut up as the thing spoke. "Please, it is not you I am after." Came that gravely voice from the tunnel. "I did not mean to harm you earlier."

"Say wha..."

"Will you just shut the fuck up Mikey!" Donnie hissed.

I returned that steady gaze. "I won't let you hurt him." I told the large form.

"But I must...I have to."

"Why?" I figured if I could keep him talking, maybe he wouldn't want to bash the guys to a pulp. Not to mention find out what the hell was going on. "Please tell me, why do you have to attack my family?"

"If you won't let me have this one then I will take the others." I suddenly knew how I could help. He wouldn't lay a hand on me, even if it meant loosing his target.

"The hell you will! Dennis! Amy! Go give Uncle Donnie and Uncle Mikey some hugs!"

"What the hell are you DOING?" Leo screamed as the two little forms ran out to do just that. I looked over my shoulder real quick to see Cris standing in front of Raph's still prone form. I calmly walked over to stand with Leo. "Have you lost your mind?" He hissed in my ear.

Leatherhead looked around to see a human covering a turtle. It was kind of weird actually, usually it was the other way around. I could tell the guys weren't happy about this development though. Once again I spoke to the large mutant. "Now, please, tell me why you are doing this?"

"Maybe he just hates turtles." Mikey said.

"Shut the fuck up Mikey!" We all told him.

"No, I do not hate you. I don't even want to be here doing this."

"Then why are you?" Cris asked.

"Because I must." Oh lord we were just going around in circles with this...

I decided to try something else. "Who is making you do this?"

"A man, an evil man."

"Well that narrows it down to half the population of New York." Raph muttered.

"You hush, too." Cris told him.

Suddenly the big creature shuddered and roared in pain. And he almost lashed out anyway, almost. I did flinch a little as he raised his arm up but he quickly caught himself. What just happened to him? "Please..." He said, trying to hold himself back.

Donnie had narrowed his eyes then quickly brought up his wrist and scanned the large reptile. "Well now..." He said softly. Then he looked at Leatherhead. "If I help you, you promise not to smash me against the wall?"

"How can you help me?"

"I can take the pain away."

He calmly eyed the purple masked turtle. "I will try to restrain myself."

"Well I guess that's as good as I'm going to get." Donnie mumbled. He carefully moved Amy out of the way and made his way over to the larger form. He stopped next to his back and looked over it a moment then seemed to find what he was looking for. Then, after a quick glance at the large being, he pulled out a kunai and quickly stabbed into the hard skin and angled the blade and pushed on the handle until something popped out. He ducked as the large being roared in pain and took a swipe at him then he rolled out of the way. Leatherhead was about to smash the hell out of Donnie when Amy promptly sat down on the prone form. Girl was quick, I'll give her that. The raised hand stayed right where it was.

Donnie held up what ever it was that he took out of the large reptiles body. "I do believe this isn't a natural part of you." Then he dropped it and squeaked in pain as it seemed to zap his hand.

"What the hell is that?" Mikey asked moving closer.

"Imagine someone putting a remote controlled taser inside of you and randomly hitting the shock button." Donnie told him.

"Ouch..."

"Big ouch." Donnie agreed.

Leatherhead looked from Donnie then to the device that fell onto the floor next to him and the hand came down back to his side. He looked quietly around at us for a moment, then he shot out of the lair.

"What in the fuck was that all about?" Raph asked as he finally got up off of the floor.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Leo said as well all looked in bafflement at the entrance to the lair. Then he turned to me. "What in the hell were you thinking?" He exploded. "Why do you insist on doing this shit!"

"Because he never wanted to hurt me in the first place."

"But he did once already!"

"Only because I got into the way."

"I...You..shit...Women!" He threw his hands up in the air and stormed off.

We didn't see the large reptile again after that though the guys did try to find him. There were to many questions left unanswered from that incident but it seemed like they weren't going to get them anytime soon.

I returned back to my usual kids, work, training routine. Yes they were still intent on throwing Cris and I around on the mats. I did notice something strange however, the gash on my neck was healing faster than it should have under normal circumstances. So fast that the stitches came out only after about a week instead of the two plus Donnie had predicted. He had a thoughtful look on his face as he removed them but he didn't seem concerned. He had checked and rechecked me constantly and couldn't find anything bad. I just shrugged it off, as he said before the mutagen was originally meant to be a healing agent so I suppose it made sense for my neck to heal quicker. But that also meant I made it quicker back into the dojo. They were insistent that I pick my training back up.

February slowly plodded into March and finally it was starting to warm up outside enough to where I could start hanging back outside again. Just had to dodge those pesky spring time thunderstorms a lot. I missed being outside and so did the kids. They would come home from school, do their homework and if it wasn't raining or to muddy from the last storm we would spend the rest of the day outside. Cris even rode Beast a lot more often now, often bringing him by and giving the kids rides on the black horse if he was in a good mood. Mandi even popped in a lot more now too and hung out with us as we would watch the kids run around chasing rabbits and butterflies, and of course pester dad's goats every once in awhile. All of his females had dropped little ones by now and the pen was full of baby goats.

As for the guys, well, I didn't get to see them as much anymore. Don't get me wrong I still spent a lot of time with them but spring time also meant a lot more alarms going off. Good weather also brings out bad crime it seems. I can't tell you how many times that thing went off in the middle of a training session or even in the middle of the night. After waking up the first few times with one of them busting into the bedroom to get Leo I finally got to the point where I just got used to it enough to sleep through the racket. He always left me a note though if he left in the middle of the night and he always made sure one of them checked in when they got back.

It was around the time of spring break when he came out of the house one morning looking a little irritated. They had apparently just gotten back from another one of their escapades. "What's the matter?"

"We saw him again." Leo said.

"Leo, you deal with a lot of 'hims'."

"Leatherhead."

"What? Where?"

"In the tunnels around the park we first saw him that night." He sighed. "Something about him bothers me."

"Him, or what happened that night with him?"

"Both." He came over to sit in a chair next to me. "So many things that just don't sit well with me."

"Anything that is out of the ordinary don't sit right with you."

He shrugged. "Over trained maybe." He looked at me then with a grin. "Come on, it's a nice day out. I figure we can train outside today."

"Well, shit...there goes my quite afternoon." I grumbled and got up to go change. His laughter followed me into the house.


	55. Chapter 55

Again the practice stick came in this time from the side and I swung my asp out to block it as it's twin came in to catch the stick coming down from above. I tilted them both slightly and deflected both sticks away from me and Leo brought them right back in. This time bringing one low and the other high and I barely managed to get my blocks into place, that paticular combo always got me before. I could never get my blocks in quick enough for it, this time I did. "Good." Was all he said then swung at me again.

This time he launched something completely new at me, well new for me anyway. He brought them in both low then let one go as I blocked, rolling it around my asp, he gripped it again as it went over the top and again brought it back in. I brought the other arm back in to block it, then brought my first arm around to block the stick I had to release. The result was me standing in front of him with my arms crossed blocking a stick against each asp. His eyes grew wide and I was honestly stunned. I had no idea how in the hell I managed to do that. I looked at my arms then at him in amazement, and almost missed the fact the he had pulled them back and brought them in again. This time I couldn't block them, for some reason I got dizzy and I saw four sticks coming instead of two. He was quick enough to catch on and stopped them before they actually hit me. Then he brought out an arm to steady me. "What's wrong?"

"I just got dizzy there for a second. I'm fine now."

He didn't look to convinced. "That's enough for today." He still gave me that slightly concerned look as we walked back to the lawn chairs. Out of the blue dizzy spells wasn't normal for me.

As we sat back down I heard the sound of Mandi's creaky death trap she calls a car. A few moments later she came around the corner. "Hey guys!" She looked around as she walked up. "Just you two today?"

I gave her a smile in greeting. "Yeah. Cris is out riding Beast and the others are...I don't know where." I looked at Leo. "What are they up to?"

"Trouble probably."

Mandi laughed. "Yeah, for some reason I believe that." She sat down in a chair. "Anyway I was wondering if I could kidnap your kids for spring break."

"You want them for the whole week? Are you a glutton for punishment?" I asked her.

"Yup." She leaned back into her chair. "Actually we are going camping. I figured they might like to go." Camping...ugh... After that misadventure with Usagi's portal I really hated that word. She caught my expression and grinned. "Yeah, that's why I didn't ask you if you wanted to go."

"If they want to go, then it's fine." I grinned at her. "Just keep them out of trees." She bust out into laughter.

We spent the next hour or so packing things up for the kids and by the time they got home they were ready to go. Thrilled wasn't even the word to describe how they felt. Hell they were in the car already while we were still loading up. I smiled as they waved enthusiastically good bye.

"Well now...since we are alone." Leo swept me up and began to carry me towards the house. He didn't get far however when Mikey came out.

"Dude, what's wrong with her? She twist an ankle?"

Leo just sighed and put me back down. "No Mikey. She's fine."

"Then why were you... Ooooh." He actually blushed a little. "Donnie wanted me to come and get you. Said it was important."

"All right, I'm coming."

Mikey grinned. "Not in her right now."

Leo pushed him. "Will you just go!" Laughing, Mikey led the way back inside, ducking the smack Leo aimed for the back of his head.

I didn't follow them. For some reason what Mikey had said about me twisting my ankle bothered me and I sighed and sat back down in my chair. Looking out over the fields surrounding my home I had time to think about it. Somehow, I felt, I was a burden to them. For Mikey to automatically assume I had twisted an ankle just, I don't know, made me feel like I had turned into the girl who always got hurt. Turned into the one that everyone seemed to target. It was as if my life got turned into a story and the author had no better ideas than to keep placing me in harms way. They must be one hell of a sadistic person.

I was so engrossed with my thoughts that I almost didn't even hear Cris come back from her place. She plopped down into the chair next to me. She looked at me for a moment. "What's eating you?"

"I don't know Cris. I just feel like I'm the punching bag in some weird story."

"Say what?"

"You heard me. I'm always the one that gets hurt and by the same guys over and over again. It's like someone's mind, who writes my life, is stuck on repeat and the damn button is broken."

She gave me this weird look. "Oookaaay... What brought this morbid line of thinking on?"

"Just think about it, Bishop, those creepy ass copy cat rejects and then Leatherhead. Why always me? Why am I the one to get beat up on all the time. Hell I'm going to have to start paying Donnie rent soon I'm in there so much." Another thought hit me. "And it's always the same guys we deal with too. Stockman, Bishop, Dark Turtles hell even the 90's turtles. They always seem to come back. It's like a story stuck on repeat I'm telling you."

"Your actually serious about this..."

"I don't know. I don't know anything anymore. Hell, Mandi shows up here all of a sudden to take the kids for the week. How much do you want to bet something is going to happen while she has them. It would be a great opportunity to throw me or Leo into harms way again."

"I am soooo gonna have Donnie check you out. I think that mutagen messed up your brain."

"Oh nevermind." I sighed in frustration.

Cris sat there for a bit quietly. "You know, if that's the case you should be lucky."

"Why on earth for?"

"Because someone is out there trying to tell your story. I'm assuming all of this that happened to you might have something to do with 'character growth', or 'how would they handle this under these situations'. Maybe it's even a 'I'm not good at writing stories and I'm staying with what I know' kind of situation." She looked at me. "Honestly, I'd be thankful if I were you. Your unseen author got you together with Leo and it seems like you two are the stars of their story."

"So what does that make you?"

"I'm the pain in the ass friend who wanted to be in they story so they wrote me in. A friend who has a crush on Raph." She grinned at me.

I laughed. "Well I hope this author comes up with some new ideas. I wouldn't want to bore the readers."

"Well that's up to them isn't it? The point is your happy with him. Yes you get beat up, what in the hell do you think is going to happen to a 36 year old out of shape woman that hangs out with the Ninja Turtles? Shit even April gets the crap beat out of her on a regular basis in the 2012 series. And guess what...the same guys keep doing it to her too. What in the hell do you expect from hanging with the guys? A nice easy happy ever after? It don't work that way in their world and you know it. But she still keeps trying and she is getting better, you will too. The guys will make sure of that. And of course you going to be dealing with the same guys over and over again, there are only a few folks out there that can give them trouble on a regular basis. If all they did was go around and beat up on street punks all the time there wouldn't even be a story."

"I suppose your right. Still creepy though."

"I never said it wasn't." She stood up. "Come on, lets go see what the guys are doing."

Turns out the guys were huddled in Donnie's lab watching over a few screens. Well three of them were. "Where's Raph?" Cris asked as we walked in.

"He's out with Casey." Donnie told her not looking away from the screens.

"Oh lord." She said. "You sure that's safe?"

"They'll be fine." I told her.

"I meant for the goons they run into. You know full well what those two do when they go out alone like that."

"Yeah, someone is going to wake up in a jail cell with a hockey stick impression on his face." Mikey grinned.

"So, what are you guys looking for?" Cris asked.

"Trying to find out why there is so much activity in the tunnels." Donnie told her.

"There is?"

"There is now."

"You think they might find the lair?"

"They better hope they don't." Leo said then grew quiet as he kept watching.

"They seem to be concentrating on the south side tunnels." Donnie said. "That's the same area we saw Leatherhead last."

"Well I guess that narrows it down on who they are looking for."

"Now what?"

"Feel like cleaning out the sewers?" Leo asked.

"For once I do." Mikey grinned.

"Well someone has to keep you two out of trouble." Donnie said standing up.

Leo turned to us. "You two-"

"I know." I interrupted him. "Stay here. For once I'm not going to argue about it." I turned to leave the lab. There was silence behind me as I left. I guess they expected me to argue about it but honestly I just didn't want to go. Not if it meant that I got beat up on again. I went over in the living area to sit on the couch. Cris came out of the lab a few moments later and after watching me a moment came over to sit next to me.

"You know, he was actually wanting us to go with them." She told me.

"Why on earth should I?"

"Because your good enough to hold your own against a guy or two." She replied.

"Yeah, but there are more than just a guy or two out there." I sighed. "I'm tired of trying to fool myself, Cris. I'm to old for this, I can't keep up with them. My fighting spirit is broken."

She just sighed and got up. "Well, I'm going with them." She walked away to get geared up.

"Self pity doesn't suit you." Came his gentle voice from behind me. I turned my head to see Leo standing behind me, his arms crossed against his chest.

"It's not self pity, it's self preservation. I'm tired of trying to be something I'm not and getting the snot beat out of me for it. It's getting old, just like me."

Something flashed in his eyes. "We didn't spend all this time and effort training you just for you to give up on yourself. I believe in you and so do the others. You have progressed enough to where I want to take you out, to where I can feel some what secure in the knowledge that you can hold your own. You were a lot less skilled when you went against Hun. Yes you can't jump across rooftops or take on mutants one on one but we never expect you to do that. You can however take out a couple of guys, you've done it before we even started to train you. What has changed since then?"

"I'm tired of ending up in Donnie's lab!" I snapped at him. "I'm tired of being the goddamn damsel in distress. I'm just...tired." I dropped my head down into my hands.

"If your tired of it, then do something about it to change it. I won't force you to go." Something dropped onto the couch beside me. I looked to see my asp belt laying on the couch. "But you are still welcome to come if you change your mind." Then he walked away.

I sat there, staring at those asps. They had meant so much to me when I first got them, I was so thrilled to get them. Honored that they thought enough of me to make them. Leo still saw that potential in me, even if I didn't. Maybe he was right. Maybe it was time to say fuck you to the repeats and try to break that cycle. Maybe it was time for me to show exactly what I can do. Bring it on same ol' bad guys, I'm ready for your asses this time. "Leo, wait." He stopped and turned to face me as I picked up my belt and stood up. "I'm coming with you."


	56. Chapter 56

Quickly we made our way through the tunnels. I was kind of shocked at how easily I kept up the pace with them. I hadn't been able to do any kind of cardio training really but here I was, running along side of Leo with almost no effort. It was like I was in the service again, running was natural to me then but I had let it slide over the years. I couldn't understand it, but I wasn't going to complain about it. I caught Leo giving me some weird looks every once in awhile, apparently a little surprised that I kept up pace with him so easy, while Cris had to be pulled along by Mikey to keep up. And she had been in better shape than me before. I still couldn't match him full speed but I could keep up with this pace. I just shrugged it off and ran on.

Not long after we slowed down and went into sneak mode and this time Leo did help me as I got a crash course in ninja stealth as the sounds of some kind of commotion came through the tunnels ahead of us. Before rounding that last corner Leo peeked his head around and took in what was going on, then he turned and started flashing out all kinds of hand signals that I had no clue as to what they meant. I almost did the mockery of it and going "I. Don't. Know. What. That. Means." Those of you familiar with the 2012 series will remember that little tidbit from the second episode. I restrained myself though. I heard Cris trying to hold back her laughter as she saw my arms twitch...she knew I wanted to do it. A quick glare from Leo cut her short though, with a final chuckle she grew quiet.

Then we split up, Mikey took Cris down one side tunnel and I went with Donnie down another. Leo went up and disappeared in the darkness above us. I followed Donnie as we went down the side tunnel and shortly later he pulled me down into a crouch and we silently looked out. We were looking into a larger cavern in the sewer complex, some kind of tunnel junction. Leatherhead was in there and so were a decent amount of men surrounding him. Apparently they had managed to corner him by now and were trying to herd him into a large crate attached to the back of a hummer by pulling on some cables they had managed to get onto his arms and legs but he wasn't going willingly. Even as I watched he brought that massive tail around and swept a few off of their feet as they tried to prod him on with stun sticks. I assumed that these guys might have something to do with his previous predicament that made him come busting into the lair.

"So what's the plan?" I whispered to Donnie. "I don't understand ninja sign language."

"We get the job of taking out the vehicle." He replied as he looked everything over.

"How did they even get that thing down here?"

"I imagine through a large access tunnel." He turned to face me. "When I give the word we move."

I just nodded and together we looked back out. Then we heard a loud thump and this one came from inside the crate. Donnie and I exchanged quick glances. What the hell was in there? Then it sounded again.

"Someone secure the cargo! We don't need him moving around in there while we deal with this thing!" An order came out from the cluster of men surrounding the back of the crate. About five of them went into the crate to deal with the newest thump. Then Leo came dropping down from the ceiling. He landed next to the large form being restrained by the crate and the goons came rushing back out of the crate to meet him. Mikey came in from the rear, on his skateboard Cris hanging on and smacking goons with her hanbo as they shot by.

"Move!" Donnie said and we ran towards the the vehicle as all the attention was now drawn to the two turtles and woman. He reached it before I did and pulled the door open and yanked out the driver sitting there, as he moved out of the way I reached up and grabbed a hold of the top of the doorframe and launched both of my feet in taking the passenger full in the face. Then I came down on something that stuck me in the ass. Cursing up a storm I shifted around until I could see what poked me and my breath caught in my throat. Raph's sais were laying there. "Donnie! We got a problem!" I told him as I held up the weapons. A quick look around and I found Casey's bag in the backseat.

"Go! See if you can get to him!"

"Why me?"

"Because I have my hands full!" As to make his point he slammed the door in a soldiers face as he came running towards the turtle then flipped over the bouncing back door to dodge another that had snuck up from behind.

Grumbling I grabbed Casey's bag then crawled over the knocked out passenger and went out the passenger door and tried to make my way to the crate without being seen. Which of course I failed to do as I got spotted right away. Well, I wanted to show what I could do, here was my chance. I dropped the bag and popped my asps out. Bring it motherfucker. I set myself as the soldier came at me. He brought an arm out to grab mine and I knocked it out of the way with the asp then spun inside and cracked the other against his ribs then brought the handle of the first against his face. Hey this double wielding does work better than single hand. I couldn't help but stop and stare at my success as the form collapsed to the ground.

"Quit admiring your work! Your leaving yourself open! Gawk after your done!" Came Leo's voice from where he was still fighting. Well damn, looks like I just got my first ass chewing from the leader while on a mission too. Grumbling again I made my way to the crate entrance. Leo caught on where I was going, and the sais in my belt and the bag in my hand told him why, and he quickly made me an opening that I took to slip in. I made my way to the back and there I found Raph, and Casey. The large turtle was throwing a damn shit fit back there. As best he could being tied up, gagged and trying not to roll over onto Casey who was in the same predicament. I figured Casey was safer one to untangle first.

"Well this is a first." He grinned at me as I turned him loose. "Usually we have to save you."

"Keep it up and I'll leave your dumb ass here."

Raph was muttering a whole bunch of things through his gag I couldn't understand but got the meaning of. "Oh shut up, I'm working on it!" He just mumbled some more and wriggled again, this time it was his widening eyes that told me something was up. I didn't even look, I just spun and nailed the guy that somehow got past Leo, right in the nuts. Now talk about a lucky shot. I took a quick look out the door and saw why he had gotten past Leo. He was getting over run, fast.

Quickly Casey and I finally got Raph untied and he snatched his sais from me almost as soon as his arms were free and, grumbling in anger, crashed into the guys outside the crate like a green shelled force of nature. Dude was _pissed_.

By the time Casey and I got back out Leo and Raph were working on trying to free Leatherhead from the cables by knocking their way through the guys that held them and Mikey had abandoned using his skateboard. Cris was still with the orange masked turtle, smacking away at anyone that got to close but they were pretty much getting surrounded too now by this point. I had no idea where Donnie was, until he came hauling ass around the crate. "DUCK!" He made the turn so fast he lost his footing, slipped and fell onto his side. Quickly he scrambled back up and literally threw Casey and I back into the heavy crate and followed us as an explosion rocked the cavern. I stared at him. "What the hell is it with you and blowing shit up!" I screamed at him.

"Seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Donnie! I'm going to fucking kill you!" Raph's voice came from where he had been flung across the cavern.

Leo was also picking himself up shaking his head to clear it. He didn't see the guy coming in from behind, before anyone could cry out a warning Mikey came spinning in with a kick taking the guy out and landed next to Leo. Cris made her way over more slowly and she too shot Donnie a very pissed look. The only one that didn't get turned into a living bowling ball by Donnie's blast was Leatherhead. Quickly we spread out and nailed the guys that were still moving around about to get back up.

Once all was quiet the large Croc looked down at us. "Why did you help me? You had no reason to after what I did to you."

"Because you needed it. We weren't about to let you go back to whoever had you in the first place." Leo told him.

"By the looks of the men and gear I'd say that whoever is more than likely Bishop." Donnie mused.

"Bishop, always that damn Bishop." I grumbled. Seems like that repeat button was still broken after all.

"Or is it?" Leo had bent down to pick something up. He held it out for us to see, a plastic face mask. Well damn...

"Stockman maybe? He still has ties to them." Donnie asked.

"Stockman works with anybody. He really don't have any loyalties."

"So that leaves us with either Sachs or someone else. And they are trying to throw everybody off by using Bishop's gear." Donnie sighed. "This is going to be fun."

"My guess would be Sachs. He's the only one with the know how to create something like us." Leo turned to Leatherhead. "And you."

"Where did he get the mutagen from?" I asked. "I thought it was all destroyed."

"And what else does he have brewing?" Raph added.

Leo narrowed his eyes. "I think it's time we found out." Again his gaze shifted to the large mutant. "Your going to have to show us where you were kept."

"Why would you want to go there?" Leatherhead asked. "It is not a good place."

"Which is why we are going there." Raph told him. "Besides, I think a little payback is in order."

"How did you get caught anyway?" Mikey asked him.

Casey bust out laughing and Raph shot him a glare. "Don't you say a word." Casey laughed even harder.

"So how did you get caught?" Donnie asked Raph.

"Don't worry about it." He grumbled.

"His dumbass knocked himself out!" Casey said. We looked at him. "Something caught his attention that he thought Cris would like and he wasn't paying attention to where he was going. Smashed head first into a low sitting billboard at a full run." Casey lost it again.

Mikey joined in this time and Donnie looked at Raph stunned. Leo just dropped his jaw and shook his head. "Dare I ask what it was?"

"Lingerie." Casey howled with glee.

"You are so dead!" Raph yelled as he tackled Casey.

"Well at least it's not me this time he's trying to beat the snot out of." Mikey said as the two forms rolled around the cavern floor.


	57. Chapter 57

"This is to easy." Raph mumbled from next to me. I barely heard him, for some reason I was fighting a bad case of bubbly stomach. Any second now I would loose my inner contents all over the rooftop we were on. He glanced at me when I didn't respond to him. "You ok?"

I closed my eyes and fought the feeling off. "I'm fine. I think Mikey's cooking got to me is all."

He frowned slightly then turned his attention back to the building we were scoping out. The others were spread out on other rooftops doing the same thing. Sachs wasn't one to mess with and Leo had wanted us to scout the structure thoroughly before we went in. "There aren't any signs of troops or cameras."

"Think they might have something else set up?" I asked.

"It's possible. I'd like to know what." He kept looking over the compound. It wasn't the same building we went to before. This was a whole new structure set on the outer rim of town. A very large single story complex that was fenced in. Getting in seemed easy, as Raph noted, too easy. We couldn't even really get close because of the large open space between the warehouse we were now crouching on and the compound we were trying to scope out.

"We need to get closer." I told him.

"You know Leo said to stay back."

"Since when do you listen to him?"

"Since I have you with me."

I glared at him. "So what then? We just sit-" I broke off as my stomach lurched again. This time I couldn't hold it in.

He looked at me again. "That's it, we're going back."

"Might not be a bad idea." I agreed. I stood up and promptly got dizzy. What was wrong with me? He quickly caught me and I could see the concern in his eyes. "Ok, now your starting to scare me."

"I'm starting to scare myself." I admitted to him.

We were about to move away when we heard a large bay door open and we promptly dropped back down so not to be spotted. Several I don't know what the hell they weres came out of the bay doors. They looked like some kind of...dog? Mutated dogs? They looked like over sized bloodhounds but were larger than great danes. Man I probably could ride one of those things. I looked at Raph in shock. Wasn't really expecting this one...

We watched as about fifteen of them patrolled the compound grounds then they seemed to, disappear? Not long after that another group just popped out in thin air in front of the bay door and went inside. We couldn't make out much more than that because we were to far away. "Well, that explains the lack of guards." I said to him.

"Probably scared they'll get eaten." He agreed.

"I don't think we are going to be able to sneak our way into this one. Not over the fence anyway." Suddenly there was a bone chilling howl. And they reappeared at the fence across from us, their gazes fixed firmly in our direction. "You don't think...?"

"Time to go." He said. "They spotted us." He pulled me to my feet, making my stomach lurch again, and we were about to turn away when some idiot opened the gate. "Are you kidding me?" Raph snapped as the large hounds sprang into a run in our direction. We ran towards the dumpster we used to get up here and already found our path blocked because the hounds had already beat us to it. "Shit!"

"We are sitting ducks up here."

"I can see that." He snapped.

"Don't snap at me!" I snapped. My temper right now was just as bad as his.

"Come on!" He grabbed my hand and we ran to another side of the building where the manhole cover was that we used and again found the hounds there first. By now we heard more commotion coming from the compound. Human voices. "Damn it!" He spat.

"How are they moving so fast?" We had cut across the rooftop and the hounds had to go around, and they still beat us.

"Do I look like Donnie to you? I don't fucking know!" He pulled me back away from the edge of the building, no need to make easy targets for the humans closing in now. We looked around, trying to find someway out of this mess. He spotted the next building over eyed it intently.

I followed his gaze and my breath caught in my throat. That leap gap was awfully large... "Can you make that?"

"We're about to find out." He then grabbed me and took off, his powerful legs picking up speed. Then he was airborne, leaping over the gap, and luckily the fence, that was in between the two warehouses. For a frighting second I thought he wouldn't make it, we were falling short, then he reached out an arm and caught the edge of the building as we barely missed it, turning his body so that he took the the impact with a grunt. Quickly I climbed up and he pulled himself up after me. "That has to be some kind of record." He said as he again grabbed my hand and pulled me along. Behind us we could hear the hounds tearing at the fence.

We kept running to the far side of the building and stopped again, the next one was way to far for him to jump to, even he could see that. Not to mention the hounds were coming around the fence now that surrounded this building. We had more breathing room but we were still trapped. He sighed in frustration as he looked around. He froze as he heard a voice. "Come now Raphael, you don't think you can get away from my new pets did you? They were specially made to track down mutants."

He ignored the voice. "Ok, so that means they will follow me. I'll lead them away from you." Before I could answer he took off, but the hounds stayed put, eyeing me.

"Raph! It's not working!" I screamed at him looking in terrorized confusion at the dogs. What the hell? I wasn't a mutant, why were they looking at me like lunch? Maybe the transfusion from Mikey? Hell I didn't know. Where the fuck was Donnie when you needed him?

"Are you kidding me!" He slid to a stop and came back, sure enough they didn't move. We exchanged quick, confused, looks. "Sachs, I'm so going to hurt you." He mumbled.

Now the stupid things were trying to tear the fence apart, and doing a decent job of it. I can honestly say I was getting scared at this point. We had no where else to go. "Easy. We'll get out of this." Raph whispered to me.

"Well now, seems like there is something interesting about your friend. The hounds want to make her acquaintance. Why don't you two just make it easy on yourselves and just surrender?" Came Sachs' voice from where he was standing behind the hounds. Some of his goons were now with the dogs, waiting patiently for them to rip the fence apart.

"Why don't you have one bite you in the balls?" Raph snapped back at him. The fence was almost torn loose now. This simple scouting mission was not going so well. Not to mention that again I was feeling queasy, maybe if I puked on the silly things they would go away.

Raph was again looking around, trying to find something, anything, to get us out of here. Then he grabbed me and ran _back_ the way we came. "What the fuck are you doing?" I asked him.

"Trying to get the fuck out of here!" Again he made that leap but this time he made it, barely, and kept running as once again the dogs came running around the fence. He pushed himself even faster as we made it to the side where the manhole cover was. Without even stopping he flipped himself down and landed making a mad dash for that cover, with the dogs closing in fast. As quick as he could he tilted the lid up and we went down, the cover dropping back into place just as the first dog reached us. I could hear the things jaws snap shut just inches from Raph's head. He didn't even stop, he just kept running.

Then we heard the sound of the cover being pulled away. "Oh fucking great." Raph muttered as the first of the dogs came down. I looked over his shoulder to see the large beasts closing in, and noticed the very large teeth. I really wanted to tell him to run faster but he was pissed enough right now. He suddenly made a turn into a tunnel on the left, just as one of the dogs made a leap for us, and ran on. By now I had no idea where he was headed, I just held on for the ride.

Then I heard the sound of rushing water in front of us as we closed in on a main drainage tunnel. I looked to see that we were headed for a dead end, the only way out was to follow the fast moving water and Raph wasn't slowing down. Don't tell me he was about to dive in that nasty ass water...He leapt, tightening his grip on me, yup that's exactly what he did. Plopped my ass in dirty sewer water.

He quickly brought us back up to the waters surface and let the current carry us along. I couldn't help but notice that the dogs had stopped chasing us though. They were standing at the edge of the man made waste river sneezing and gagging. I guess the smell was to much for their noses, I know it was to much for mine. "I am going to get you for this."

"Would you rather stink or be torn to shreds?"

"Right now the dogs don't seem so bad." I gagged at the smell and once again I vomited as my belly gave a good heave.

"Well you just puked on me so we're even." He fought against the current to get close to the tunnel side then pulled out a sai as we came even with another tunnel. He slammed it into the wall and he came to a jerking halt. I climbed out and he pulled himself out after me and yanked his weapon free again. I collapsed to the tunnel floor gagging and heaving. He knelt down next to me. "We need to get you out of here. There is something wrong with you."

"Yeah, you just dumped me into shit water." But I knew he was right. I've felt off all evening now and it wasn't getting any better.

I got up on shaky legs and he supported me as we made our way through the tunnels. "Do you have any idea where we are?" I asked him.

"Not a clue."

"Great."

"Hey, I wasn't expecting to have to deal with mutated mutts."

"So now what?"

"We get out of here. Hopefully the others will come looking for us when we miss the meet up time."

If they didn't run into those mutts themselves... I quickly brought my mind away from that line of thought. That's the last thing I needed to worry about.

Finally my rolling insides settled down, probably because there was nothing left to come up, and I could walk on my own again as we kept going. I just wish I didn't stink so damn bad. We came to another manhole cover and Raph went topside to look around while I waited below. A few minutes later he dropped back down. "We didn't get swept to far off course, we are still in the warehouse district we were in earlier."

"So which way do we go?"

"Back." Came Leo's voice from further down the tunnel. We both jumped as he and Casey came into view. They looked like shit, Leo covered in blood and Casey's clothing torn. Mikey and Cris followed not far behind not looking to much better. "They caught Donnie."

My eyes widened at the sight of him. "It's not mine." He assured me.

"We ran into some crazy ass looking dogs." Casey said.

"God what is that smell?" Cris asked.

I glared at her. "Don't even ask."

"We ran into them too." Raph told Leo then grinned at Cris. "The smell is coming from my evasion tactics."

"You dropped us in liquid shit!" I fumed at him. Mikey bust out laughing.

"Hey, it worked." He looked at Leo. "You do know they are going to expect us to go back for Donnie, right?"

"Good. I hope they also know what they are in for." Leo looked and Raph and I. "But first we have to do something about that smell. They'll smell you coming from a mile away." I glared at Raph as the others broke out into grins.


	58. Chapter 58

I woke up and blinked a few times to clear my vision, then noticed that wasn't going to happen because my glasses were gone. I squinted as I moved my near sighted eyes around, trying to figure out where I was. All I could make though was that I was in some kind of room. With out moving I couldn't exactly tell you what kind of room and I wasn't sure moving around right now would be a good idea. I decided to lay there and play possum to see if I could listen instead of see where I was. This takes longer and I didn't need them knowing I was awake while I tried to figure things out.

I remember scouting the compound with Cris. We were on the ground and I was trying to scan the complex from behind the large semi we were hiding behind when I got one of those bad feelings that Leo always seems to get when something is amiss. We all have that sense but his is the best developed out of all of us. I've seen him nail enemies with a kunai or shurikan before the rest of us even knew they were there. I always did envy that sixth sense of his. Mine kicked in enough to push Cris out of the way, then these huge dogs appeared out of nowhere in front of us, then charged at me. Luckily they didn't seem interested in her but they sure wanted to say hi to me. I fought them off the best I could while she high tailed it out of there, trying to make sure she would get out of there.

I knew right away that I was in trouble though. There were a lot of them and they were fast, so I went the only way I could go, up. As soon as she was clear I launched myself onto the top of the semi. This got me out of the way of the dogs but now I was completely in the open. I couldn't help but try to analyze these creatures as I watched them. How could they disappear? Why were they so big? How do I get by them? I assumed they had some kind of advanced chameleon DNA mixed in with them for the disappearing act. Was the only thing I could think of in the short time I had to observe them before I was shot full of tranq darts on my arm and shoulder. Now here I was laying on the floor in some room and I had no idea where I was. I assumed I was now inside the complex though.

"I know your awake, Donatello. You might as well quite trying to hide the fact." Sachs. He was here. I gave up the possum act and stood up, I was surprised to find myself unrestrained. I was weaponless however and my pack was gone. I tried to look around to see what was going on but without my glasses I was pretty much blind. "You didn't think I would give you any advantage I hope." I refused to answer him, I wasn't going to give him that pleasure of mocking me. I closed my eyes and tried to use my other senses. Leo was so much better at this, I always tried to use my brains to get us out of jams, not feelings.

I could tell I was in a large open room by the way Sachs' voice echoed off of the walls and by the feel of the walls and floor it was coated with some kind of metal, an odd choice I thought. That meant however that the smooth surface wouldn't allow me to climb out. Sachs was still babbling on in the back ground, over some kind of speaker system. That meant he was watching me from some other area. If from an attached room or from a video feed I couldn't tell. I brought my attention back to what he was saying now. "It seems that I have no test subjects for my latest versions of my hounds. I was going to use the specimen that got away from me but you'll do for the first few dry runs. Though I doubt you'll last as long as the croc would have. He was a failure anyway, apparently not up to the mission I sent him out on. So I will take his failure to destroy you and turn it into a test run for my pets." That didn't sound promising. I heard some kind of door open and then the clicking of clawed feet on the metal floor. Now I think I knew why the room was covered in metal, it made the blood easier to clean away.

.

.

"Dude you got your foot in my ear!"

"You don't have any ears."

"Get your foot off of my head then!"

"How else am I supposed to get up here!"

"Use something else besides my head!"

Raph looked up at the bickering forms balancing on his shoulders, then dropped them both. As Mikey and Casey looked pissed up at him he grabbed them and knocked their heads together. "If you two don't shut the hell up..."

Leo and Cris popped their heads over the next level's rim where they had already gone up. "What are you _doing_ down there?" Leo asked. "Your going to get us caught before we even reach the tunnels under the compound!" He sighed and disappeared back behind the rim. "Why do I even bother..." I heard come back down.

"Maybe I can be of assistance?" Came Leatherhead's gravelly voice from down the tunnel. I looked as he emerged from the shadows to walk up towards us.

"Hey big guy." I smiled at him. "I thought you didn't want to come?"

"I didn't at first." He admitted. "But it seems my conscious tells me otherwise. Your brother is now their captive because of you helping me, I can't let you go in alone."

Raph looked at him. "You might not be able to come in the same way as us. No offense but your awfully big."

"None taken my friend. I will find another way, but first..." He picked up Casey and tossed him up to the level Leo and Cris were at. We heard a muffled grunt and grumbling and Leo's voice mumble something back about shutting the hell up already.

Raph grinned at Leatherhead. "I was about to do that."

"It seemed the only way to get him up there, quietly. He is very...annoying."

"Yeah he is, but fun." Raph turned to me. "Your turn. You want to climb or a throw?"

"I'll climb, thank you very much." I adjusted my now wet with clean water clothes and made my way up the Raph/Mikey tower. Leo had found a working water hose earlier by one of the warehouses we had gathered under and had sprayed the hell out of Raph and I. We still stunk but it was bearable now, if you didn't stand to close to either of us. Mikey still wrinkled his nose as I went up. I was so tempted to step on that nose.

When I got to the top Leo helped pull me over. He was about to reach over to help his brothers when he quickly rolled out of the way as Mikey came flying up. Mikey landed in a forward roll and then Raph came up a moment later. He popped his head back over the rim. "Thanks for the lift."

"My pleasure. I will meet up with you inside." Came the voice from below.

"You know, he's pretty handy to have around." Mikey said.

"Remember that when you get on his bad side." I told him grinning.

We kept moving, we were trying to find a way into the compound from below. I don't think any of us wanted to tangle with those hounds again. Without Donnie to guide us it wasn't easy trying to find a way in and we spent a long while wandering the tunnels under the building trying to find some way to get in. Finally Leo stopped. "There has to be a way in!" He snapped, frustrated, Donnie's well being obviously on his mind.

"Well find it bro. Let's keep looking." Mikey tried to calm him down.

"We may have to go topside." Raph said.

"And deal with those damn disappearing over sized mutts again?" Casey asked.

"Might have to come down to that."

"No, there is a way down here. We just have to find it." Leo said, once again calm. "Those dogs are to quick, we got lucky last time."

We kept looking. Finally we came to a section of tunnel that had pipes running across the top of them. Leo stopped and looked thoughtfully at those pipes. Then he jumped up there and inspected the wall they came out of, looking it over. He pulled out a kunai and dug around the wall, showering us with crumbly concrete. "Raph, come up here and give me a hand." Raph joined his older brother and the two powerful turtles went to work on the old tunnel wall, Leo using his kunai and Raph using his sai. The rest of us started dodging falling chunks of debris. The had opened up a large area of the wall revealing a crawlspace. "And there it is." Leo said.

"What made you think of that?" Cris asked him.

"Something Donnie told me once. They have to leave some room to work on the pipes if they bust, not to mention to give them room to expand and contract with the seasons."

"It's going to be a tight fit." Raph said looking in the crawl space.

"For your big ass maybe." Mikey easily hopped up and crawled in. "I seem to fit just fine."

"Good then you can lead." Leo told.

"Now there is a scary thought." Casey mumbled.

Leo and Raph each held a hand out and one by one we jumped up and they caught us, pulling us towards the crawlspace. The sudden pull and shift irritated my stomach again and I paused a moment in the entrance with my eyes closed to settle it. This was getting tiresome. I could feel Leo and Raph watching me and I quickly moved further in so they could come in behind me. Leo came in next and Raph brought up the rear. "Why do I get the shitty view?" He asked as we started to crawl along the tunnel.

"You didn't think I was going to let you look at her ass did you?" Leo told him.

"Well it's better than looking at yours."

"Which way Leo?" Mikey asked from the front.

"Just follow the pipes Mikey." Leo told him, then mumbled to himself. "Like there is any other way to go."

I could here Raph and Leo then have a quiet conversation behind me but I couldn't bring my mind to focus on it. I just wasn't feeling right at all but I did the best I could to pull myself together. I wasn't going to abandon Donnie just because I caught an icky bug. We crawled further along and after a few moments Mikey called back. "Dead end."

"Then open a hole." Leo called up to him.

"With what?"

"Your head." Raph grumbled as Leo just sighed and tried to wriggle around us to get up with Mikey.

His usual ninja agility failed him in this tight space as he managed to jab me in the head with his sword hilt and bring his knee down on my hand. At least he said sorry when he heard the thunk of his weapon meeting my forehead. He wriggled around Casey and Cris with the same results. "Hey, watch where your putting your hands!" Cris told him.

"I'm trying!"

"Teach you to let Mikey lead." Casey said.

"Oh, just shut up." Leo kept moving forward.

He made it over to Mikey and together they worked on opening another hole. I just leaned against the wall and waited nothing else I could do at this point. No way three of us were going to fit up there. A clatter told me they had finally managed to open up something. "Why is it so hard for you to be quiet!" Leo went off on his younger brother.

"Not in my nature."

"I'm about to beat it in your nature." Leo grumbled then slipped out of the crawl space with Mikey right behind. One by one we slipped out behind them. We ended up in some kind of basement utility room. We followed Leo to the only door in the room and waited as he tried it and slowly pulled it open and peered out into the hallway.

"Which way?" Raph asked quietly from behind him.

"I'm not sure. We're going to have to split up. Take Casey and Cris with you, I'll take Vicky and Mikey. Who ever finds him signals the other team."

Raph nodded and led his team off. "Raph." Leo called after him and he turned. "Be careful."

"We will." Replied then led them off again.

"Alright you two, lets go." And Leo led us in the other direction. I followed close behind him hoping we could find Donnie in this friggin maze.


	59. Chapter 59

This was getting tiresome, literally. The damn man had become more sadistic with age it seemed. Loving to play with his toys like some deranged cat. He kept sending them in in pairs and I was busy trying to deal with the last ones he sent in. I listened for the sounds of their claws tapping the floor as I waited for them to make their way to me, maneuvering around the dead bodies of the ones lying on the floor. I learned how they attacked fairy quickly, it was always the same pattern, one would come in high and the other low. I waited for the clicking to speed up indicating the charge towards me. My hands reached out as the clicking stopped, the indicator that that one of them had launched itself towards my throat, and grabbed the blurry form's head as it came into reach. I twisted it's neck as I swung it down into the other form as hard as I could and heard the snap of it's neck as it hit. Quickly I tackled the other dog and also grabbed it's head and held it's body with my legs. Then I snapped that neck too.

All of this didn't come about with no risk to me however, with every encounter I had at least gotten bitten once. The numerous bites were starting to add up and this latest one had gotten me deep in the wrist. I brought my other hand over it and applied pressure to try and stop the bleeding.

"You are good. This is more entertaining that I thought it would be. But I grow tired of it. I have a pack of outdated specimens and I need to make room in my kennels. Feel free to kill as many as you can before they rip you to shreds." Once again I heard that unseen door slide open and this time there was a multitude of clacking claws. I wasn't sure if I was going to make it out of this one but I set myself anyway. I may be the geeky one, that didn't mean I wouldn't go down without a fight though.

.

.

We checked every door we came across but so far had found nothing. Leo was growing frustrated with this tactic and decided to change it. We entered another room to find a couple of men watching TV or something, this appeared to be some kind of control room. Whatever they were watching had their full attention as Leo walked up behind them. In their cheering and excited whoops they completely missed the large form walking up behind them. He took one look at the screens and, with anger in his face, quickly snatched the two men out of their seats as Mikey moved to another corner of the room. Leo glared at the two men he held dangling in the air. "You better tell me how to find him or I swear I'll do something much worse to you than what's happening to him right now."

I had by now made my way next to him and I could see what they were watching. The blood drained from my face as I saw Donnie on the screens trying to face off against those hounds. Mikey came back over to us. "I found his gear. Leo they took his glasses." Mikey held out Donnie's large glasses in his hand. I took them from him while he strapped on Donnie's pack and bo staff.

Leo slammed the men against the wall. "Where is he!"

"In the arena." One of them stuttered out.

"What's the quickest way to get there?" Again he slammed them, harder this time.

"The kennels." The other one got out. "Follow this hall and take a left at the next intersection. Fourth door down." We were closer to him than we thought then. Leo looked at them for a moment then turned and threw them both into the monitors they were watching. Mikey pulled out his phone and sent a quick message to Raph.

Leo led the way out of the room at a run and he didn't even stop as two more guys got surprised in the hallway he just launched up and nailed them with a split kick and hit the ground without breaking stride. He set a quick pace now and again I found myself surprised that I could keep up. This time Mikey gave me a funny look. "You been holding out on us?" He chuckled at me. "Usually we have to pull you along."

"I don't know, Mikey. It just seems...easier...for me to keep up." I told him honestly.

Leo had by now turned his attention to our conversation and was looking at me thoughtfully. "I wonder..." He said quietly. He never got to chance to say what he wondered because another set of guys came out from the room we wanted to go in. This time it was Mikey that took action, launching himself into a handstand flip and taking them out as he landed in between them.

Leo quickly caught the door before it closed and charged inside, the sounds of fist meeting flesh came out of the slowly closing door. Mikey and I followed him inside and saw him throwing the last one against the wall. He seemed real fond of throwing them today. "He was like that too when you went world hopping that time." Mikey told me. "Stockman got thrown around like a rag doll that night. I'm thinking he's worried about Donnie."

"I am too." I quietly replied then looked around. We were now in a long, narrow room. There was a hallway that lead off to our right and a control station right across from the door. There was a lot of howling going on from that hallway as we entered the room. Obviously we had found the kennels. Now how do we get from here to the arena?

"There has to be way to get from in here to where he is." Leo said. He looked over the control panel and moved closer to a board. I joined him and noticed that these switches were numbered. "Go look and see if those kennels are numbered." He turned to Mikey.

The younger turtle nodded and moved down the hallway. "They are." Came his reply from down the hallway.

"Give me the number to an empty one." Leo called back.

"Number three." Leo punched a couple of buttons and grabbed my hand as we rushed into the hallway leading to the kennels.

Mikey had already gone through. "Donnie!" His cry to his brother was filled with anger and worry. We bust out into the large room beyond to see the pack of hounds gathered in the corner, surrounding a now prone form on the floor. They didn't hesitate and ran forward to help their brother. I stayed back, I wasn't sure I could handle those monstrous things.

"You! How did you get in here!" I heard a voice say over a speaker. "There was no way for you to have gotten in without my hounds finding you!" Well you just got a nasty surprise didn't you ass munch. That's what you get for assuming we would come in from topside. I looked around and found the room where Sachs was hiding. There was a large window covering one upper wall and he was behind the glass. Poor Donnie probably couldn't see it without his glasses but I found it just fine.

By now Leo and Mikey were by Donnie's side, fighting furiously to keep the dogs away from him. Relief washed over me when I saw Donnie stand up, shaky and a bloody but he was up. Then I realized I still had his glasses. I was starting to debate to myself how to get them to him when another door opened and more hounds came out. Sachs must have his own control panel up there.

They were about to charge across the room, when they paused and looked at me. I had completely forgotten the fact that they could somehow track me too. Not a good thing to forget under these circumstances. Leo cried out in horror and surprise as they went for me. Mikey looked just as stunned. I guess Raph and I also forgot to fill them in on that little tidbit...oops. I turned and hauled ass.**  
**

Going back wasn't an option because the door had closed again behind me that led back into the kennel. So I ran as fast as I could for the window. It was the only thing in this smooth room where I had even a slight chance of getting up off of the ground. Maybe if I could hold on to that slight windowsill...shit who was I kidding, I gave up on that idea and tried to circle around to meet up with the others and knew I wasn't going to make it. Purely on survival instinct I spun and brought my asp down hard on the lead dogs nose. It yelped and stopped, causing the ones behind to crash into it.

Then there were sounds of small explosions coming from the room Leo, Mikey and I had left and a large form came rushing out of the door that just released the newest dogs. Raph took in the scene for a moment then came barreling into the dogs as they moved in on me again as more explosions went off. Then they died off and Cris and Casey came charging out of the same door Raph used and again it closed behind them. Great now we were trapped here together.

"No!" Came a furious cry over the speaker system. Hell I would be pissed too. By now you had three very pissed turtles taking on this pack of mutated mutts. Then Casey threw something into the largest cluster surrounding the three turtles across the room and the sounds I heard earlier became obvious to me now. Casey was throwing hockey puck bombs and they seemed very effective as the hounds were tore to shreds. "NO!" Sachs was really pissed now it seemed. Another door opened but this time no hounds came out. Casey started to laugh. "If you want them your going to need a shovel to scoop them up off of the floor!" Eeeew...

Casey and Cris made their way to us and started to help Raph hold the ones that were left back. Those two went largely ignored as the mutts were intent on ripping the rest of us to shreds. Raph got one in the throat with his sai as he kicked another away, then took the now dying hound and slammed it into yet a third. Casey was on it beating the crap out of it with a baseball bat while Cris went for one with her hanbo that went for me as I was furiously beating it's head with my asp. Neither of us seemed to be doing anything fatal to it however, just pissing it off more. It lunged at me again until a bo came in and hit it with tremendous force. It stumbled over to Raph who quickly finished it off. Another one came in and a katana quickly went across it's throat.

The others had managed to reach us. I turned to look and Leo and Mikey were on either side of Donnie and Donnie himself looked like shit. He was covered in bites but none seemed to serious. I reached out and grabbed his hand and placed his glasses in them and he put them on. "That's a lot better." Then he unleashed his fury on the nearest hound. As he turned away from me I noticed a lot of bite and claw marks on his shell. I'm guessing he tried to use his shell to protect himself form the hounds as best he could. It seemed to have worked since the bite and claw marks were very faint. I doubt if bullets couldn't get through that teeth and claws would.

There was a new problem developing now. Apparently Sachs had called in some of his men to help the hounds since we were putting a large dent in them. Still there were more than enough left to give us trouble though and we really didn't need anything else to deal with right now as figures started coming out of the kennels.

"Well, going back the way we came isn't going to work." Mikey said.

Donnie started to run a scan. "They had to have brought me in here by some other kind of door. I don't think I came in through the kennels." He stood and scanned the room, slowly turning in a circle. "I found it. Over-" His scanner had passed over me and he stared at it incredulously, then his eyes widened and his face grew very pale as he stared at me. "Oh no..."

"Donnie, your scaring me." I told him nervously as I was bashing in another hound head.

Donnie ignored me and turned to Leo. "We need to get out of here, _now_!"

"How?" Leo snapped, slicing the hound I was trying to deal with, then spun and cut another down as it lunged for him.

Just then an unseen door not far from us burst open outward and a large form entered the room. "This way my friends. Hurry!" Leatherhead said.

Donnie practically drug me towards the door as the others held off the men and hounds. As we got closer Casey dipped into his pockets and lit up more of his little explosive toys and dropped them around the door frame where the hounds were now huddled together trying to get through. Raph, Leo and Leatherhead slammed the door back shut and held their weight against it as explosions rocked the room behind it. The snapping and snarling wasn't heard anymore after that. "I think that takes care of that." Casey grinned.

"We need to leave." Donnie said urgently, looking at me again.

"We might as well try and find out what else he's been doing here." Raph stubbornly said. "I don't want any more surprises from him."

"We need to go, now." Donnie repeated. He seemed very agitated for some reason.

Leo caught on to it also. "Donnie, I know you want to go but Raph has a point, we might-"

"Vicky is pregnant!" Donnie snapped finally. "We need to get her out of here!"

Mikey's jaw dropped and Leo's eyes got very wide. "Holy..." Came from Raph. Cris and Casey just stared at Donnie like he grew another head, then stared at me like I did. I was just as shocked as the rest of them. We all just stood there with dumbstruck looks on our faces.

The arrival of more men in the hallway snapped us all out of it. Mikey grabbed me and quickly spun facing away from them as Donnie did the same for Cris as the hallway exploded into gunfire. Casey just dropped to the floor and crawled over to Donnie.

"Leo, wait!" I heard Raph call out. "Damn it, Leo!" Then there were the sounds of a fight behind us. Quite a few bodies came flying down the hallway. "Leo! Will you watch where your throwing them!" Raph snapped. Mikey chuckled a little as he listened to Raph gripe at their older brother. "Leo! Come on! Your not the only one here!" What the hell was going on over there? I cautiously poked my head around Mikey's shoulder and stared in awe as I watched Leo tear into them as Raph was trying just as hard to cover him. Raph had to duck as yet another body came flying towards him. "What the hell!" Raph was fuming by now. Leo finished the last of them off with a roundhouse kick that hit them so hard they bounced back off of the walls. I was stunned, there were bodies everywhere and I had a feeling Leo did most of it.

He rejoined us and looked at Donnie. "Get her out of here. The rest of us will stay and take care of this place. Your hurt already and I don't want you hurting yourself anymore."

Donnie nodded at his older brother. "Alright."

Then Leo turned to me and pulled me into a tight hug. "Go with him. You don't need to be here right now. Show him the way we came in, it's the safest way out." Then he kissed my hair. "I love you."

I wanted to go with them but I knew he was right. This was the last place I needed to be. "I love you too." I told him. He held me for a moment longer then let me go. "Go." He told us and Donnie took my hand and led me away.

Leo watched us go for a few moments, his eyes unreadable, then he led the others in the way Leatherhead pointed out to him. "Be careful." I whispered. Donnie heard me and squeezed my hand in support. Soon after I couldn't see them anymore and I just sighed and walked on, my head full of thoughts and emotions.


	60. Chapter 60

I let Leatherhead lead the way, he knew this place better than we did. And once again with out Donnie we would be stumbling blind around here. Right now I wanted to get out of here as quick as we could and door to door searching did not qualify as quick. For once the surrounding danger wasn't the reason for my wanting a hasty departure, though it did come a close second. My mind was still trying to wrap itself around what Donnie had told us earlier. Granted this wasn't the place to find out about it but I could understand his reasoning for wanting to get her out of here, if he had to spill the beans to get us to see that then he did the right thing. Right now she was the most precious thing we had and I wasn't going to risk her, or my child. My child...That thought still sounded strange in my head. I couldn't help but wonder how this could of happened. How could a human and a mutant turtle breed together? How did we manage to create a new life? How was it that I was going to be a father? A father...

I felt a nudge on my side and looked over at Raph who had been the nudger. "Leo, you gonna be able to handle this? You seem to be spacing out on us. Mikey's head is already in la la land, don't need yours there too."

"I'm sorry, Raph, it's just..." Again my mind replayed Donnie's words, _Vicky is pregnant_! "It's a big thing to take in."

"Well hurry up and get that thought settled down on the couch with a beer. It's not going anywhere anytime soon."

He made it sound so easy, but he was right. I needed to focus on what was going on now. The wondering and thinking had to wait until later. Somewhat regretfully I shoved these new thoughts and feelings into the back corner of my mind. We still had a mission to do and I still had other family here that needed to be taken care of. I still couldn't help the small smile that found it's way to my face though.

"Oh lord..." Raph rolled his eyes. "Here we go with the mushy crap."

Before I could respond we ran into some more of Sachs' men, this time we surprised them and they really didn't have time to bring their weapons up before we were on them. "Oh, so your going to leave some for the rest of us now?" Raph teased as he fought by my side.

"I suppose. It is nice to share your toys with your brothers every once in awhile." Still, honestly I wasn't in that 'mode' I was in earlier. Before they had been shooting at us, shooting at the mother of my unborn child. I just remembered one thought from that. How dared they, how fucking _dared_ they! Some primal urge to protect her had kicked in, something a bit more than just getting her out of harms way. She was carrying something very precious, especially to me, and I just felt myself flood with the need to keep them away from her. It was a bit unsettling at first, this almost overwhelming urge to get rid of the threat, until I quickly found out how to channel it. It was the same as the rage outbursts I dealt with not so long ago. Don't fight it, use it, but use it under your control. I couldn't help but send a quiet thanks to Usagi for those wise words.

"Nice little fight." Casey said as he looked around at the prone forms lying all over the floor.

"Glad you liked it." I told him. He was such a big kid sometimes. "Let's keep moving. They still are looking for us." Once again the large croc led the way. He alone knew what we were looking for and where to find it.

Finally he led us to a large double door. This one was secured with an electronic lock, no just turning the handle this time.

"Here, here is where I was created." Leatherhead told us.

"Well let's go see what Sachs is up to this time." I told the others. "Lets get this door open."

Before any of us could touch it however an alarm started to sound and shortly after the door opened on its own. "Move! That's the perimeter alarm!" Came a voice from the inside of the room as the door came open. "There are some of them moving outside!" And I had a good idea who it was and these creeps weren't going anywhere near them. Why couldn't those two just do what I told them? I flew into motion catching the unsuspecting guards by complete surprise, they weren't going anywhere near her if I anything to say about it, and I did.

"Leo! Look out!" Came Casey's voice just as something large crashed into me. At first I thought it was Leatherhead until I noticed the color was off. Leatherhead was more green where this thing had a brown tone to it. It also had it's jaws snapping inches from my face as I lay pinned under it.

.

.

Once again I was crawling through the crawl space. Donnie and I had managed to get to the basement room unseen and we had slipped into the hole that was made earlier. Now we were almost out the other end. My mind was still reeling, now the way I was feeling made perfect sense. It just never crossed my mind before because I never thought Leo and I could have a child together. One hell of a way to find out though. I didn't blame Donnie, I blamed myself for not paying attention to what my body was trying to tell me. My joy at finding out was seriously hemmed in by the fact I was still under a compound that had a whole bunch of goons in it that would not hesitate to do me in.

Donnie dropped down out of the end of the tunnel and caught me as I came down to join him. The poor guy looked like crap, covered in bites and dried blood. At least his wounds seemed to quit bleeding. The mutagen filled blood once again kicking into healing overdrive.

"This way." He took my hand and led me down the tunnel. "It's the quickest way back to the van."

We walked quietly for a few moments, he was concentrating on his scanner and I was lost in my own little world. Suddenly he turned his attention behind us. "They found the tunnel." Now we moved into a run. I didn't know if they were going to come after us but we weren't going to find out. Shortly after a rumbling sound filled the tunnels. "Shit, they just collapsed the crawlspace." Donnie mumbled.

"Then the others don't have a way out?"

"Not that way."

"You didn't answer me. Do they have a way out?"

He looked at me. "I don't know."

"Not the answer I was looking for."

"Well it's the only one I have."

"How about, 'We'll make them a way out.' "

"Oh lord, you do know Leo told me to get you out of here right..."

"I'm not leaving without them Donnie."

We had a staring match for a moment over it. Then he sighed. "Leo is going to be pissed. Come on, I've got an idea." He led me in another direction than we were originally heading towards. After a while he finally stopped and climbed up to a manhole cover. Carefully he lifted it up and peered out then ran a scan for good measure. He seemed very nervous for some reason. Finally he climbed out and motioned for me to follow and I did.

"Where are we?" I asked him quietly. His nervous behavior didn't sit well with me, and neither did the little one. I had to fight back a wave of nausea again. At least I knew why I was throwing up all over the place now.

"This is close to the area I got caught. We need to go this way." He led me around a building then paused as he got to the end of it, then stopped and slowly looked around the corner. "Good, it's still there." He mumbled.

"What's still there?"

"The semi Cris and I were hiding behind earlier."

"What the heck are we going to do with that?" He just turned to me and grinned. "You wanted to make them a way out, we are going to make them a way out."

Ooooh boy... He fired up the truck and pulled it around, apparently using his scanner to find the others. Finally he lined the truck up with the building. "What about the hounds inside the compound?" As if to make my point there was a howl coming from that direction.

"There is an area over there not to far from the fence where there are two storage buildings close together. We need to see if we can funnel them all in there."

I looked off in the direction of the compound. I could only think of one way to do it, and Donnie had to drive the truck. I hopped out of the cab and walked towards the fence. I didn't get far when he grabbed my arm. "What are you doing?"

"Being bait. I don't know how to drive that thing and there is no one else here they will follow."

"Jesus, think of _why_ they are following you!" He snapped at me. "I'm fairly sure they can pick up on the baby in you somehow and I'm not going to let you do that."

I looked at him with tears of frustration in my eyes. I hated it but he was right. "So what do we do?"

"Hey, I'm not the geeky one for no reason. I've got an idea." He led me back to the truck and we both climbed inside. Then he went to work on his great idea. I watched as he pulled something out of his pack and began to attach it to the wiring of the truck. After he was done he pulled something off of his wrist band and handed it to me. I looked at him stunned, what was I supposed to do with this? "Come on...you never had a remote controlled car before?" He winked at me.

"Not one this big."

"It's not going to be to hard. It's already facing the way it needs to go. Just give me a few moments to round up those mutts."

"You better hope they don't open the gate on you..."

"The thought has crossed my mind, which is why I won't let you do it." He quickly ran over the controls with me and then we both slipped back out of the cab. He went to the fence and I went and climbed up a nearby water tower. If those stupid hounds did come out I wasn't going to make it easy for them.

Donnie had by now made it to the fence and began beating on it and making a whole bunch of noise. Then he stopped, looking intently around, there were there and we both knew it. Then all of a sudden he began to _climb_ the fence. The fucking moron! Why was he climbing it! That wasn't part of the plan! I was going to kill him, right after Leo killed me..._Shit!_

He dropped down on the other side and walked slowly further in he was by now almost to the building. He quickly looked at his wrist display and pointed to the wall then gave me a thumbs up. Ok, I assumed that meant they were on the other side of that wall but I wasn't going to do anything until we had the dogs taken care of. Where were they...

Suddenly Donnie whipped his staff around as they suddenly appeared all around him. I fired up the truck and got it moving forward making it speed up as fast as I could get it to go. I just hoped Donnie was fast enough to move out of the way as it crashed through the fence and kept going. There was only one thing that was going to stop this big rig and Donnie was right in it's way as it moved quickly towards it's target.

.

.

I brought my katana around and sliced at the face as it came down again and it pulled back and roared in pain and rage. Leatherhead and Raph then crashed into it's side knocking it off of me and I rolled away from it and got back onto my feet. We wanted to find out what Sachs was up to and I think we just did. I didn't have time to take the my surroundings in but I got a good look at this thing. It was about as large as Leatherhead but was obviously some other kind of large reptile. He was also strong enough to give our new friend a hard time as he pushed the croc off of him. Raph was next to go flying across the room as he tried to get a good hit in with his sai.

Cris and Casey looked on pretty much helpless against the large thing. It obviously didn't have Leatherhead's morals as it tried to tear us to shreds. I back flipped out of the way of it's snapping jaws as it came in for me again only to find it right in front of me again as I landed this time I ducked under a swipe of it's large claw and lashed out at it's underside. I was barely able to nick him when the other clawed hand made contact with me and sent me rolling across the floor. I hit the wall hard enough to knock the wind out of my lungs for a moment. I looked up to see it coming after me, then saw my little brother's form land on his shoulders and tried to get it into a choke hold. It was a laughable attempt but Mikey distracted it long enough for Raph and Leatherhead to come in for it again.

This time Raph was able to get a solid hit on it's soft underside as Leatherhead clamped down with his own jaws on the thing's neck, narrowly missing Mikey's arms. I got back up and spun my kantana back around and launched an upwards blow that connected this time with the things stomach. Then brought the other one up and placed a twin cut next to the first. Raph placed a few more good strikes in and we were slowly tearing it's lower body apart as Leatherhead held his hold and even began to twist his head around trying to break the things neck. It brought the tail around and knocked Raph and I away with it and then brought it's clawed hands up to try and release Leatherheads grip on it's throat. Mikey, using his smaller form, came in under it and swung his chucks around the elbows of the creature trying to pull the powerful arms down but found himself being flung across the room. Then it grabbed a hold of Leatherhead and finally was able to break the grip of jaws on it's throat. This thing wasn't going down without a fight.

The only warning we had to get out of the way was the sound of a very large horn right before the wall behind us exploded inward. We scrambled out of the way, trying to dodge flying debris and dead hounds as well as the semi that came crashing into the room. It kept going and slammed into the large reptile, pinning it against the far wall before it finally came to a stop. Raph quickly lept onto the hood and slammed his sai in the struggling creature's neck.

"Interesting, I'd say it's some kind of mutated komodo dragon." Donnie said as he came through the hole in the wall.

"It's dead, that's what it is." Raph snipped him.

I walked over to my younger brother, my eyes boring holes into his. I was not happy to see him, thankful for the help, but not happy. "Where is Vicky?"

"On the water tower. She'll be alright as long as she stays up there."

Before I could say anything else I heard Casey call out from the other side of the truck. "Guys! Come look at this!"

I climbed over the truck to see what he had found. "There's a whole bunch more of them." Cris said as I came closer, She pointed to the far wall where I could see it covered from on end to the other with containment tanks, each one holding another creature in it. They were all in various stages of development.

"Whoa, looks like some kind of freak show." Mikey said as he landed next to me.

"You ain't kiddin'." Casey told him.

"Look over there." Raph pointed to another wall also lined with containment tanks, this one had hounds growing in it.

I couldn't help feeling disgusted by this. We had been lucky and made a friend in Leatherhead. What were our chances on these being friendly beings? I looked over to Donnie. "Thoughts?"

"I don't know. Let me look their research over." He looked around for a moment to find a computer that wasn't trashed and went over to it. Mumbling to himself he looked over everything he could pull up. Finally after a while he shook his head. "Destroy it. Destroy it all. The strains he's using here are all volatile." He looked at Leatherhead. "You were the only exception, a mistake. The rest of these were created to be just overly aggressive animals. Large ones but still animals. If they ever get loose..." He didn't need to clarify, we just saw what happened when they get loose.

Leatherhead looked at him. "I may be a mistake, but one I am grateful to have been made. These forms are not so lucky." He looked over the tanks. "They need to be destroyed."

"Then let's do it and get out of here." I told them. "We've been here to long already. It's only a matter of time before he rounds up more men."

Mikey had been looking out of the hole in the wall. "He already has. But it's not us they are after."

One thought crossed my mind...Vicky. "How did they find her?" Donnie's head snapped up from where he was still looking over the computer.

"She saw them coming for us and got their attention, now they are going for her."

Goddamn that stubborn woman! "Mikey, come with me. The rest of you deal with this." I tore out of the room with my youngest brother right beside me. I swear to god I love that woman with everything I have, but she drives me insane sometimes...


	61. Chapter 61

Ok, maybe climbing back down the tower, throwing rocks at them and calling them pansy ass pussies wasn't such a good idea. I managed to get them away from the nice escape hole Donnie and I made but now Sachs' men were chasing me. I really should have thought this one through more. I skidded around the side of a nearby warehouse as gunfire erupted behind me. Yeah, I definitely should have thought this through more. I kept running down the side of the warehouse, it was the only cover I had and I was going to run circles around it all night if I had to. Well until they figured out that's what I was doing. I wasn't quite sure yet what I was going to do when they figured that gig out. What I really needed was a place to hide.

I skidded around the next corner and I could hear them closing in on me from behind. At least they weren't shooting at me anymore. That was one positive thing about this whole mess I just got myself into. I was fast approaching a dumpster and I wondered if I had enough time to hide in it. That thought vanished from my mind as one form, then another landed on it and flip right back off it to land on the ground next to me.

"I swear to god I'm going to chain your ass to a tree!" Leo hissed in my ear and swiftly pulled me behind the dumpster. He made a quick signal to Mikey and the younger turtle disappeared overhead again. "Wait here and don't you dare fucking move!" Leo said to me then slowly made his way back around the dumpster as the men came charging towards it. They had obviously figured out that's where I went. And they just as obviously didn't know I now wasn't alone. Right about then Mikey came down behind the group and Leo sprang into action himself going for the front. Of course I had to go look so I carefully peeked my head around.

He exploded into them with a fury, his fist lashing out to take one then bringing his arm back to elbow one behind him in the throat. Then he spun and launched a kick that sent two more flying then ducked down as Mikey came rolling over his back lashing out with a scissor kick then letting his nunchucks fly out after his feet hit the ground, knocking two more down. Then Mikey back flipped high into the air to avoid being hit and Leo came in under him with a spinkick. Mikey landed behind him in a split kick, taking out two that were coming in behind Leo.

The two worked in perfect harmony with each other, weaving in and out, trading places even switching targets in mid swing. Mikey's agility a natural companion to Leo's controlled well trained strikes. The oldest and the youngest were an odd couple to see fight together until you actually saw them fight together. They were vastly out numbered but far from out classed and a thing of beauty to watch.

"GOONGALA!" Rang out into the night and Casey came barreling from the side. You could tell where he was in the hubbub by the rise and fall of his hockey stick and golf club as they kept coming up and back down on bad guy heads.

"Dude do you have to shout that every time?" Mikey hollered at him.

"Not my fault you forgot to shout your catchphrase." Cased yelled back. "So don't take it out on mine!"

"Cowabunga!" Raph came spinning down from the roof top, landed in the middle of the group and promptly launched a fist out then kicked out behind him.

"Hey! You stole that from me!"

"You snooze you loose Mikey!" Raph grinned at him kicking out again, this time in front of him.

"Booyakasha!" Cris came in swinging her hanbo at the nearest head she could reach. Then spun and smacked another in the knees.

"What the hell?" MIkey yelled. "You got one too now?"

"Actually I stole it from you. You just don't know you yell it."

"Oh yeah! Now I remember, it's from that cartoon the kids watch...Damn it I should have used that one."

I couldn't resist. As soon as I found one close enough I came out from behind the dumpster and came in from behind, smacking him on the head with my asp. "Mahp mahp motherfucker!" Then I hit him again.

Mikey and Cris bust out in laughter as I retreated back to my hiding place. Leo shot me a quick glare, then bust out laughing himself. "What the fuck was that?" Raph asked me laughing. Casey shook his head as he slammed his golf club into a stomach.

"What the hell is going on over here?" Donnie said as he came spinning in with his staff, quickly taking the ones out trying to follow me.

"Battle cries, bro!" Mikey ducked under a swing and brought his leg out to sweep his attacker off of his feet. Then Casey came in and smacked him with a hockey stick.

"Oh, I see." Donnie thought a moment as his staff swung out again. "Turtle power!" He finally cried out.

"Hey I got one!" Mikey grinned. "Go green machine!"

"What, so I need an oil change now?" Rash asked throwing a guy into another one.

"Deathroll of doom!" Leatherhead came rolling in, leaving a pile of squished men behind him.

"Hey, not bad for you first one." Mikey complimented him.

"Thank you my friend." Leatherhead dropped his tail on yet another unfortunate person.

"Just leaves you Leo!"

"I kinda like this one." He brought his katanas around in a double slash pattern. "It's ninja time!" He launched a kick out sending one flying into another and both of them crashed into the wall.

I was laughing so hard I almost pissed myself by that point. God they were a bunch of crazy ass nuts.

"That one is soooo cheesy dude." Mikey said.

"Maybe, but it fits me." Leo nailed another guy in the face and spun around only to find no one left to fight.

"Awwwww." Mikey said. "They all fall down and go boom."

"Speaking of booms." Donnie said. The building we had spent most of the night in exploded then went up in flames. "I think it's time to go. I don't think Sachs has anything left to throw at us."

"Seriously? You blew shit up again? Dude we so need to get you into E A." Mikey told him.

"E A?"

"Explosives anonymous."

Oh god, my side was hurting now. Someone make them shut the fuck up...I wasn't sure how much more laughing I could take. I tried to get up but fell back laughing, tears rolling down my face. Leo walked over to me. "Come on chuckles." He was still grinning as he helped me up. It took me a moment to compose myself but I did. Together we walked off into the night, the burning flame behind us lighting the way.

.

.

"I'm human terms, your about two months along." Donnie told me as he finished his examination. Leo had stayed by my side the whole time, holding my hand.

"That can't be right." I mumbled, running the numbers up in my head. Just didn't add up with my last period.

"I said in human terms. I didn't say it was developing as a human would. You have to remember that turtles eggs, box turtles in our case, take about three months to hatch."

"Ok, so this means what?"

"Your in for a shorter pregnancy. I'm guessing about four and a half to five months all together."

Leo looked slightly amused. "Your guessing? That's a new one."

"Don't really have a choice. Never had to deal with this before. All I can do is guess." Donnie looked back at me. "This might be hard on your system. The baby is going to grow in half the time a normal human baby would. Your going to have to drastically change your diet to keep up. And of course constant monitoring."

"I don't know if I can handle this. I never thought I'd have a baby this late anymore."

Donnie looked at me with a small smile. "Oh, hell...I might as well tell you that too."

Now I was curious. "Tell me what?"

"You have Mikey's blood to thank for all of this. It did have side effects, just not the types I would have thought. I wasn't expecting you to be able to carry a baby from it, or expecting it to halt the aging process drastically. It even went so far as to repair a lot of aging damage. You may be thirty-six mentally, but physically your back to around nineteen/twenty. Your body is well equipped right now to handle this pregnancy."

"Say what..."

"You heard me. It fixed a lot of wear and tear for you."

"Well that explains some things." Leo murmured.

"You noticed it too?" Donnie asked him.

"Really couldn't miss it, if you know her well enough." He smiled down at me.

I grew quiet as I took all this in. "You know, I think the next time I see Leatherhead I ought to thank him. If it hadn't been for that accident none of this would have happened."

"I don't think he really wants a thank you for slicing you neck open." Donnie said in a dry tone.

"Yeah...I think you may be right about that." I ended the sentence in a yawn.

"Yeah I fore see a lot of sleepy time in your future." Donnie smiled at me.

"Starting now." Leo gently pulled me up from the lab bed and wouldn't let go of my hand as we walked to his room. He had been really quiet ever since we got back safely home and he still kept his silence as we made our way across the lair. We entered his bedroom and he softly closed the door behind us, then turned me around to face him. "You know, if you weren't pregnant right now I'd have you in the dojo putting you through the work out of your life. Here you may be my mate but out there I expect you to follow my orders."

"And If I wasn't pregnant you wouldn't have had a reason to send me away in the first place, so then I wouldn't have disobeyed you and you wouldn't have a reason to put me through the workout of my life."

"Stop that, I'm serious." He did smile a little though.

"I know. I've been spending to much time with Donnie. His logical thinking is starting to rub off on me." I met his gaze. "I'm sorry Leo but I just had to help. I don't know why. When I saw those troops coming around I just couldn't let them corner you in there."

He looked at me a moment then pulled me close. "Your impossible." He said softly. "But I do understand why you did it. You have to get it into your thick head that it's not just you anymore though. For right now, no more missions for you."

"Is that the leader or the father talking?" I couldn't help but tease him.

"Both."

"Well I guess I can't argue with the two of you." Another yawn slipped by me and I rested my head against his chest. He then picked me up and carried me over to the bed.

"Get some sleep." He told me as he laid me down, then covered me up. I was already starting to nod off as he kissed my cheek softly and by the time he left the room I was asleep.

**Ok folks. I need baby names. Not sure if it's going to be a boy or a girl yet. I'll leave the floor open to you readers. What would be good names for a baby ninja turtle? PM me with your thoughts and I'll pick the one I like the best. ;)**


	62. Chapter 62

I woke up later that night to find myself snuggled up to Leo. He had one arm around me and his other hand was resting lightly on my stomach. His blue eyes met my brown ones as I slowly blinked awake. He didn't say anything as he leaned in to kiss me softly, his tongue gently reaching in for mine. The kiss lasted for a few moments before he slowly pulled back and he pulled me closer to him.

"Does that mean I'm not in trouble anymore?" I asked him as I laid my head on his shoulder.

"No. I'm still a little displeased with you. But I also have realized that this couldn't have happened if you weren't the way you are." His hand moved softly over my stomach. "I guess your stubbornness does have it's good side."

"To a point. That was incredibly stupid of me earlier."

"Overly concerned more like it. You have an overdeveloped sense to protect your loved ones."

"Oh, and you don't?"

He chuckled. "Point taken." He moved his hand gently to my face, caressing my cheek. "I love you." Before I could reply he kissed me again, this time deeper and I moaned into the kiss. I had just wrapped my arms around his neck when a knock sounded at the door and we pulled apart. I looked at the clock as Leo gave permission to enter. It was three in the morning...ugh does anyone sleep around here?

Cris came into the room. This kind of shocked me a bit, as far as I could remember this was the first time she's paid us a midnight visit. "What's up?" I asked her. She looked like hell, as if she had been trying to sleep but spent the time tossing and turning instead. I could tell by looking at her that there was something bothering her.

Leo also caught on that something was up. "Let me leave so you can talk alone."

"No, Leo, it's actually you I wanted to talk to." She told him, standing uncertainly by the open door.

He looked slightly shocked but recovered quickly. "Come here and sit down." We both sat up and I shifted my legs around to make room for her to sit on the bed. "What's bothering you?" He asked her as she sat down.

"I just, I don't know, I mean..." She sighed in frustration. "I feel like a failure because I left Donnie." She finally admitted quietly. "I left him there to get caught. I left your brother behind." Her eyes were glued to the floor.

Leo looked at her a moment. "No, you didn't. He knew you were over matched."

"But I left him. He got caught and hurt because I left him."

"If you would have stayed you both would have been caught. He knew that and I think you do too. He pushed you away for a reason. If you didn't find me when you did it would have taken us longer to figure out what happened and by then it might have been to late."

"I let him, and you, down."

He reached out his hand and turned her to face him. "Cris, I can't tell you how many times we have had to retreat and leave one behind. We pull back, regroup and go right back in to get them. Donnie knew we would follow that same pattern. Yes you had to leave him but you were also right there with us to get him back. You did nothing different than we would have done." He paused. "I can also tell you your not the only one who felt like they didn't do enough at the time." I felt his hand take mine and squeeze it softly but he didn't break his gaze from her. I knew exactly what was going though his mind at that point. It wasn't that long ago when he had to watch helpless as I was swept away from him. "Don't punish yourself for something that had to be done. You did the right thing at the time, coming to find us. Together we did what a single individual couldn't do, we may have to let one of us go but we never leave them behind."

"He's right, babe." We turned to look at the new voice. Raph was leaning on the door frame with his arms crossed. "If it had been us I would have done the same thing Donnie did. As a matter of fact I did come close to doing the same thing. I was fully prepared to lead them away from Vicky, it just didn't work out that way. We got lucky, you and Donnie didn't have that luck."

"If you call getting dropped in sewer water lucky." I mumbled.

Cris giggled then grew quite again. "I just felt like it was somehow my fault. He was stuck there and then I just ran off and left him after he pushed me out of the way."

"None of us blame you for leaving, so please don't blame yourself. There was nothing else you could have done." Leo told her. "All that matters now is that we made it home, as a family." She looked at him a moment, then leaned over to give him a hug.

"Thank, bro." Raph told him as Leo returned her hug. "I knew this was bothering her but I'm not good at this kinda stuff."

"She's part of the family too, Raph. I care just as much for her as I do the rest of you." Leo looked at his brother as Cris scooted off of the bed. "At least she came to talk to me about it. Unlike a large hardheaded brother of mine."

"Yeah...well...bite me." Raph grinned.

"I'll bite you in a minute if you don't behave." Cris told him.

"Promise?" He wrapped an arm around her as she came to stand next to him.

"Keep being an ass and you'll find out."

"Well now, let me see how I can piss you off tonight." He closed the door behind him as they left.

I chuckled after they left then felt Leo wrap his arms around me and pull me towards him. "Seems like they have the same idea I had earlier..." And again his lips moved onto mine. I didn't get much sleep that night.

The weeks seemed to drag for me. Don't get me wrong, I love my children very much and I absolutely adored them when they were babies. I couldn't not stand being pregnant however. I hated the morning sickness that seemed to last all day, being tired, pissy, body parts swelling, gassy and running around with this emerging bowling ball for a belly. I was huge and I was starting to have slight suspicions about the contents of my stomach. They only thing I did take joy from was feeling the movement start inside me. That always filled me with awe, feeling those butterfly feelings inside. I knew later those butterflies would turn into kicks and punches that always seemed to hit your bladder or ribs but that first time you feel it...

Donnie kept his eye on me very close those weeks. He had put me on a diet that would give me all the energy I would need to deal with this faster development and had me take some vitamins as well, again something thrown together to accommodate the needs of the child growing inside me. This was a special baby and needed a different kind of care and uncle Donnie was all over it. The only thing I told him was that I didn't want to know if it was a boy or a girl. This time I wanted to be surprised. Leo, surprisingly then again maybe not, also didn't want to know. So Donnie had the pleasure of being the only one who knew what was going on in there. Much to Mikey's frustration.

The bigger I got the more impatient Mikey became. I knew I was getting short tempered by the time my fourth month came around and his constant badgering didn't help. I can't tell you how many times Leo or Raph had to drag him away by the mask tails to keep me from strangling him with a baby blanket. But he never gave up, when he realized I wasn't going to budge on the not knowing aspect he went to pester Donnie about it. I lost count there too on how many times he got kicked out of the lab. Finally he just gave up and grumbled around the lair. He was going to have to wait just like the rest of us.

Leo patiently rode it out. He dealt with my now easily flareable temper, my mom who was in shock still over the fact, Mikey's endless probing, two energetic kids, and of course everything else he dealt with on a regular basis. That's not saying my carrying his child didn't affect him however. I remember one day I was coming out of the lab and walked right in line of one of Mikey on Raph pranks. I didn't even see the waterballoon coming for my head, hell I didn't even see Leo in the damn room until he came out of nowhere and intercepted the floppy guggly missile coming for me that was originally aimed at Raph who was on my other side talking to Casey. He caught it and, still in midair, spun and threw it back at Mikey. Mikey was to stunned by his older brother's reaction time to move and got his own waterballon in the face, much to Raph's delight as he bust out laughing. Leo just glared at the youngest and kept moving on to the kitchen where I assumed he was originally headed. Every time one of Mikey's pranks went awry near me Leo was there to make sure I didn't catch the bad end of it. And the closer I got to the end the more protective Leo got. Just a week before labor Leo was to the point he was the one screaming Mikey and chasing the youngest around the lair and Raph was the one trying to break up the fight. Talk about a backwards home life...

Then finally the day came. I had been feeling 'off' for most of the day, restless I guess you could say. I couldn't focus on anything really and was very irritable. I was in the lair living room area, fussing over the baby's things for the upteeth time, when the contractions started. I closed my eyes and worked myself through them, that part never was easy for me. I'll admit it, I'm a big fat wussy when it comes to labor pains. I did not deal with them well at all. I began to make my way to the couch, it was the closest thing for me to sit on. Almost right away the next set came in. Oh great, this one wasn't going to warm up, it wanted out now. This time I felt arms wrap around me as I struggled to deal with the pain. I looked up to see Leo standing next to me. "You don't look to good."

"You think?! Go find your damn smartass brother." He sat me down on the couch and bolted for the dojo where the others were training. He came right back out with Donnie in tow and the others following him. I guess I was tonight's entertainment.

"It's a little earlier than I expected." Donnie said as he led Leo and I to the lab.

"Is it going to be alright?" Leo asked him.

"I'm sure it will be fine." Why did he have that mischievous smile on his face? "It's just ready to come out and my calculations were just a little bit off."

I struggled through another contraction. "Oh sure, let's just ignore the fact that I'm hurting like a mother fucker!" I snapped at them.

Donnie tried to hide his grin and failed. I was about ready to slap him at this point, if I could reach him. He wisely stayed out of smack range.

Leo helped me onto the lab bed. Donnie had made some adjustments to it just for this purpose, the head part could now raise up and he put a plastic cover under the sheets to save the mattress not to mention the stirrups. Donnie raised the bed up for me so I could lay propped up. This time when the contraction hit I could feel pressure. I had felt this before with my son, this wasn't just the baby, it was trying to come out with the placenta still intact. "Donnie! This really hurts..."

Leo was looking a little bit wide eyed as his brother quickly stripped me from the waist down, propped my legs up in the stirrups and covered me with a sheet. Not knowing what else to do he held my hand. "Don't you try to comfort me! This is all your fault!"

"You were having just as much fun as I was." He snapped back.

"Hey! Can I help?" Mikey popped in from behind Leo.

"Get out Mikey!" We all three told him.

"But I want to see the baby!"

Leo just turned and grabbed his little brother by the shell, dragging him to the door. Then he grabbed the bottom half of the shell and launched his brother out of the room through the open door. I heard a crash as Mikey collided with something. "You fucking idiot." I heard Raph say before Leo slammed the door shut again.

Donnie had by now managed to open the placenta and with a release of pressure the fluids spilled out. "I hadn't thought of that." He murmered.

"Thought of what?" Leo asked him walking back up to me and stubbornly took my hand again, even as I was trying to smack him. I really was not a happy camper. He just ignored me and concentrated on Donnie.

"Her placenta is tougher than a normal one, which is why her water didn't burst on it's own." He looked at Leo. "It stands to reason considering that the shells would have torn a normal one apart."

"What the hell did you do to me Donnie..." I grumbled at him.

"Nothing that I can't handle." Came his reply from under the sheet. I was about to kick him when yet another contraction came. The immense pressure I felt earlier however had died off a lot. Still was in a pissy mood though.

It didn't take long for the baby to start on it's way out after that. Honestly I was expecting this to be harder, I mean have you really looked at Leo? He's not exactly small. And as big as I was I half expected a fifteen pound baby to come through. But the little one made it's way with almost minimal effort on my part. Leo was now sitting on the bed next to me giving whatever support he could as I made the last few pushes. Then with a feeling of release it was free and in Donnie's hands as I collapsed against Leo. Donnie took a moment to inspect the small form then quickly wrapped it. Strangely the baby didn't cry once through the whole process. With a smile Donnie brought the small form to us. I have to admit it was smaller than I thought it would be. Right away I knew why the baby wasn't crying, it had Leo's same calm gaze as it looked over it's five fingered hand at us. "Congratulations, your first born is a boy." Donnie said handing me the baby.

I looked gently down into those calm eyes, so much like his father's but also different. His eyes had a stunning two tone color to them, brown around the iris that faded into Leo's ice blue on the outside. A peculiar combination, but then this was a peculiar baby. Leo reached out with a trembling hand to softly touch his son, as if he couldn't believe he was actually there. The child just seemed to gaze right back at him still, as calmly as before. I looked up at Leo to see tears in his eyes as he gazed down at the small form in my arms.

"Now we are just waiting on the second born." Donnie grinned at me.

I almost dropped the baby. Did he just say...Right then another contraction hit. Donnie took the baby and placed him in an incubator nearby and, still grinning, got himself into position again. I looked at Leo. "_Two_? You put _two_ in there?! One wasn't enough?"

Leo looked just as befuddled as I felt, he was speechless. "Donnie, you have a messed up sense of humor." He finally croaked out.

"Your the ones who said you didn't want to know."

"The gender you idiot! You could have told us there was more than one!" Leo snapped.

"Wouldn't be as much fun though."

"I'm going to hurt you." I growled through another contraction. "Both of you."

This one came out quicker than the first but I was still exhausted by the time I gave that final push. Now a days they do c-sections for this crap, I had to push them out physically. I think I was the first one to do that in years... Donnie and I were going to have words about that, just as soon as I got my strength back. Right now I couldn't even throw a pillow at him. Totally spent I collapsed into the pillows as Donnie came around with the second, even smaller form. "This one is a little girl." Not sure if he should hand me the baby or Leo, since we were both trembling but for different reasons. He decided Leo that time. He did make the new father sit down next to me on the bed first before he handed the baby over. Then he went to deal with the birth aftermath.

"Two..." Leo whispered softly as he held the baby. His voice was still shaky but his arms were now rock steady as he held the tiny form close to him. This one too refused to cry but she seemed a little more fussy than her brother. Leo looked at her in wonder. "Twins." Even as tired as I was I could make out his eyes misting up again. Then he held her so I could get a look at the younger child. She had the same eyes as her brother, but her skin tone was lighter.

Suddenly there was a banging on the door. "Come on guys! What's going on in there!" Mikey hollered through the door.

"Good lord Mikey. Will you just wait!" Raph yelled at him from somewhere.

"I've been waiting for ages!" Came the reply.

Donnie brought me my now cleaned up son and took the baby from Leo. "It's up to you two." Donnie told us, nodding at the door with a smile. Leo smiled himself and went to open the door. He caught Mikey off guard when he opened it and the youngest fell into the room. "Come on in, little brother." Leo told him gently.

Mikey came over to the bed, he was quiet and calm when he caught sight of the small form in my arms. Leo let the others come in also but they hung back a little, except Raph who came to join us at the bed.

They looked on in a quiet wonder at the newest member, and eyes widened as Donnie brought the now cleaned second child over. "Wow, dude, twins?" Mikey whispered.

"Cute little rascals." Raph smiled. "Kind of take after both of you."

"Well that's what usually happens with babies." Donnie grinned. "They look like both parents."

"Can I hold one?" Mikey asked.

"Why, so you can drop it?" Raph teased him.

"Come on man, I wouldn't drop them."

Leo took the baby from Donnie and handed her to his little brother. "Are they boys are girls?" Mikey asked as he cradled the tiny form to him."

"Your holding your niece. Vicky has your nephew." Leo smiled at him.

"What about names?"

Leo looked at me and I smiled at him. I had already decided he would name them. I'm sure he could come up with fitting names. "Titian." Then he looked at the bundle in Mikey's arms. "And Lavinia."

Donnie smiled at him. "Keeping up with father's tradition I see."

"It's the only way I can think of to honor him. He choose Renaissance names for us, I want to continue that."

Raph laid a hand on his brother's shoulder, his own eyes a little moist. "Very fitting names. Father would be pleased."

I couldn't help but think over all that had happened over the past year. My life had went from perfectly normal, if boring, to this. One freak thunderstorm had set a chain of events into motion that lead me here, bonded with Leo and close ties to his brothers and friends. I had even made new friends, Cris, Leatherhead even the 90s turtles. My life went from boring and lonely to full of friends and new family. That night so long ago our realities had collided and now, tonight with these two tiny forms, they had merged. As far as I was concerned there were no longer two different worlds for me, just one large one. It is here that I will end my tale, with Leo and his brothers surrounding me and these two small wonders, for the title doesn't seem to fit any more. There will be a new tale with a new title and new stories to tell. Because with this family, there will always be a story to tell. And if you are willing to listen, I will tell them to you. But for right now I will say my farewell and enjoy the company of this most unusual, but well loved, family.


	63. Chapter 63

**Ok folks. I am just going to clarify here that I will keep writing about this mischievous bunch of misfits. I'm just going to start another book is all. I feel this one is getting to long and this seemed like a good place to stop. If you want to read more about them favor me if you haven't already. I'll be starting the new book soon, I already have a ton of ideas ;) I am nowhere near done.**


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